BOLIVIA: Sniffer dogs latest in anti-drug arsenal.

Record ID: 799334

  • Title: BOLIVIA: Sniffer dogs latest in anti-drug arsenal.
  • Date: 4th August 2012
  • Summary: EL PASO, COCHABAMBA, BOLIVIA (AUGUST 03, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SNIFFER DOGS CARRYING OUT DEMONSTRATIONS ORDERED BY INSTRUCTORS GENERAL VIEW OF INSTRUCTORS FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES GENERAL VIEW OF INSTRUCTORS AND SNIFFER DOGS STANDING IN FORMATION VARIOUS OF SNIFFER DOGS VARIOUS OF VETERINARIANS INSTRUCTORS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN POLICE
  • Embargoed: 19th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bolivia, Plurinational State Of
  • Country: Bolivia
  • Reuters ID: LVA3P42S2WR19TD4ZV90IU0TUY8V
  • Story Text: Drug sniffing dogs graduate from year-long programme in Bolivia.
    Fourteen police dogs received their drug and bomb sniffing diplomas on Friday (August 03) after a year of intense training at the International Canine Drug Training Centre in El Paso, Bolivia.
    The graduating dogs started their training as puppies in Cochabamba and one year later they are ready to help their human partners in the field.
    For Colombian police officer Nestor Alfonso Casas, the interaction with other anti-drug canine units is imperative.
    "(We want) to be able to share at different institutional levels and nationalities like with the police officers from Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Dominican Republic, Bolivia and Colombia," Casas said. "(We want) To be able to participate and to communicate, bringing the experiences from the police forces that fight against drug trafficking and then taking it back to our own countries."
    The dogs are an important tool used by police forces to locate cocaine, marijuana, other illicit drugs and explosives as they combat drug traffickers and other criminals.
    The centre has been around for 20 years and has trained hundreds of dogs and instructors who have gone on to help police forces locate and seize drugs.
    The director for the U.S. Narcotics Affairs Section, Reginald James Mchugh, said the instruction of new anti-drug police units was necessary.
    "In the fight against drug trafficking, it is indespensible to be able to work with anti-drug police units who have a solid professional formation and an attitude towards committed service in this objective and fulfilling it within the parameters set forth," he said.
    Police officers from six countries, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Panama, also graduated from the centre along with the pooches who will return to their home countries qualified to train additional officers, both human and canine.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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