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Canine Customs Officer Makes Major Ammo Bust
posted (February 11, 2013)
We know all about the police canine unit - but recently Customs got their own such unit - starting out with three dogs. They didn't make a big deal - because they wanted to make headlines as well with real news of a meaningful bust. Well, that happened this weekend when a canine customs officer made a spectacular find, in the dark night, at the western border. We found out more today:

Jules Vasquez reporting
She may look like just another Labrador eager to get out and play, but Jesse the dog is a customs officer.

Now she may not have a stripe on her shoulder, and sure she plays around at work all day, but this

Canine Customs Officer has earned her playtime - with a major seizure of high powered ammunition this weekend. She found these 45 rounds of .45 caliber ammunition and 17 rounds of 5.56 Calibre ammunition near the western border on Saturday night.

That's when police and customs went down near the Mopan River after hearing the report of some gunshots:

Lindbergh Coburn, Customs Officer Grade 2, Jesse's Handler
"I notice my dog was tugging on the leech. I was turning back because I thought that it was hook up in her foot but when I flash the light around the dark area and I notice there was a plastic bag and I search the bag and it contained illegal ammunition."

The ammunition was wrapped in plastic, and the area was completely dark, but that didn't bother Jesse

Lindbergh Coburn
"It was very dark, when we turn off the lights we couldn't see anything, to us it was hostile."

Jules Vasquez
"However she even sensing the tension in her handler she was undeterred."

Lindbergh Coburn
"She is a very brave dog. She wasn't that fearful I guess."

No, fear at all, in fact through all the tension - she had one thing on her mind, her beloved rubber toy

Lindbergh Coburn
"Whenever she finds something all she wants is her toy, so in her mind its just a game to her. All she wanted was her toy."

Same for the other two dogs based at Customs Headquarters, both German Shepherds, named Amigo and Yao Ming. They form part of what customs hopes to make a permanent fixture in their operations:

Colin Griffith, Deputy Comptroller - Enforcement and Compliance
"We have been utilizing them to the fullest in the past couple of weeks where the port is concern with the stripping of containers, with vehicles coming from the States. We have deployed them on many occasions to the border. We are able to send them across the country to do work that would be difficult for the officers at Customs to perform."

And while drug sniffing dogs have long been used by Police, Jesse's fearless nose may contribute more meaningfully to public safety.

Colin Griffith
"It has always been believe that small arms are being smuggles across the border in vehicles. Customs have never been successful in detecting these types of things and the three dogs that we have, two of them are trained to work with drugs and the other one Jessie was successful on Saturday night is trained for ammunition and explosives."

So gun and ammunition smugglers beware, this customs officer is dead serious about her work and unless you have her special toy, she's virtually incorruptible.

IT wasn't mentioned in the story, but three customs officers have been trained as handlers - and the dogs can only de deployed with them.

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