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PAW AND ORDER
Meet Ireland’s ‘instrumental’ sniffer dogs hounding criminals’ illicit shipments & curbing deadly drug trade
The dog's manager revealed how the pups are rewarded for their work
MEET the Irish paw patrol helping to collar drugs gangs and curb their deadly trade.
Revenue plays a vital role in stopping illegal narcotics entering the country using a team of hounds.
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In the first four months of this year, up to April 30, the agency seized 23 hauls of cocaine and heroin worth €5million, plus 2,185 more which related to other drugs, including amphetamines and ecstasy with a value of €36.1million.
Meanwhile, 1,092 stashes of cannabis, weighing 2,168kg and valued at €43.4million, were also found.
And 57million cigarettes worth €47.4million, along with 29.5kg of tobacco worth €24.4million, were grabbed, too.
In total last year, Revenue snatched 9,085kg of drugs with a price tag of almost €302million.
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This included more than €157million of cocaine detected on board the MV Matthew in Cork.
Detector dog Daithi sniffed out €11.4million worth of coke at Rosslare. Some €8.4million of heroin was also found at Weston Airport.
In figures given to The Irish Sun, Revenue called the hero mutts “instrumental” in nailing some 1,875kg of drugs with a value of almost €58million; over 46million cigarettes totalling close to €40million; and 1,275kg of tobacco with a value of almost €885,000, plus €167,000 in cash.
It comes after we joined the team, and sniffer dog Jack, at Dublin Airport to discuss how they keep millions of euros of drugs off our streets.
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Labrador Jack, five, is trained to hunt out narcotics and cash, while other detector dogs, such as Milo, specialise in tobacco.
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Revenue has another 24 trained pooches across the country, with two more joining the squad within days.
National dog programme manager Alan Foley said they can be found at all of Ireland's entry points, from airports to courier depots.
He explained: “We have dogs stationed in post offices, courier depots, ports, airports. We’re lucky in that being an island nation, we don’t have border crossings.”
Revenue largely uses three types of dog — labradors, cocker spaniels and springer spaniels. Each animal and its handler must go through training in the UK, then in Ireland, to get them used to the smells and sounds of the places where they will work.
Alan said: “Depending on where the dog is going to be placed operationally, we then focus the environmental part in that location.
“We get the dog used to baggage belts, to working around people, to vehicles, to noise.
“We try to get them desensitised to all working environments so when the dog comes along and is working, it’s focused solely on the job.”
Alan hailed Revenue’s dogs as “national assets” and valued members of the team.
PUPS PROVE HOW POWERFUL NOSE CAN BE
Each hound has one human handler, who it works with during the day and returns home with at night.
Since 2020, Jack has been paired with Nicola, who started out in an office job at Revenue, but applied for a dog handler position in 2013.
She initially worked with a mutt called Scooby, who has since retired but still lives with her.
Now Jack has been proving just how powerful his nose can be.
Nicola said of their successes: “It’s all drugs — cannabis, heroin, cocaine, ketamine, amphetamines. We actually got one a few weeks ago, it was just under 15 kilos of cannabis on the Toronto flight coming in a suitcase. So that was a big one.”
The pair found 14.9kg of alleged herbal cannabis vacuum-packed into luggage. A woman in her 50s was arrested and charged over the seizure.
Anything that is found by the team is passed to Gardai, who will proceed with a criminal case.
'WE WANT TO GET OUT THERE'
Nicola said: “I’ll alert the guys in the channels, they’ll stop the bag, X-ray it and then talk to the passenger and call the Gardai, who will come and take the passenger away.
“Jack’s done well. He doesn’t have an off switch and he is quite eager, which is good. A bit like myself, thank God. We want to get out there and go and find stuff.”
Alan revealed handlers and dogs go through regular refresher courses to ensure training is up to date.
He told us: “Nicola will constantly be doing refresher training and continuation training.
“That is where she has her dog focused on certain parts, whether it is to do with bags or with people.
“That could be focusing on pockets, boots, bags, socks, everywhere that people might conceal items.”
He added that the training helps teams learn the tricks used by criminals to smuggle illegal items, such as hiding them in coffee cans.
‘PAID IN TENNIS BALLS'
Alan said: “We have to always make sure we’re prepared — constantly learning and training because, when things come in, it’s not always just sitting there in a bag. There’s people with deep concealments trying to deceive us.”
When a dog like Jack finds a suspicious stash, such as drugs or tobacco, they use what Revenue call “passive indication”, meaning they will come to a stop and stare at the target.
They are then rewarded with a treat, namely play time with a tennis ball. Alan said: “They get paid in tennis balls and they love that. It’s not just all about the rewards stage.
“When the reward comes, the dog gets to interact and play more with their handler, so it’s like an explosion of fun for them.
“They get great enjoyment out of it. It’s like a high five.”
With such a demanding role, it is crucial that dogs like Jack get lots of valuable downtime.
But it’s hard to guess exactly when handlers and mutts will face their busiest periods on the job — and can find time for a break.
CONSTANT DEMAND
Nicola said: “It all depends on what flights are coming in. (There are) a lot of Spanish, Portugal, American flights.
“It depends on what’s happening during the day, there’s no set time. You obviously have to keep an eye on them when they’re getting tired, do they need a rest? Every passenger smells different, so they are dealing with that.
“I was in at 5 o’clock this morning, I’ll finish at 1, it’s an eight-hour day, and you’ll have a walk in there as well to make sure the dog goes to the toilet.”
She also revealed passengers love Jack, as he is sure to put a smile on their faces.
He still has around three years left before he, too, will retire from his role.
Nicola said: “They generally work until they are about eight. Scooby retired when he was eight.
“Even when he stopped and I was bringing Jack, he was looking to come with me in the van.
“Even now actually, it’s very cute. But he’s getting old.”
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