Drug Seizure Provides Local K-9s with Great Training Opportunity
K-9 handlers from West Palm Beach Police Department (PD); Palm Beach Gardens PD; Riviera Beach PD; Tequesta PD; Juno Beach PD; and Port St. Lucie PD accept an opportunity from DEA to train their canines on a very large cocaine seizure. This gives them the chance to smell not only the amount but also the purity.
MIAMI — K-9 law enforcement officers from South Florida got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train their dogs on a seized 850-kilogram drug load of cocaine. This training is important because it allowed the dogs to experience their training but on a much grander scale.
K-9s are used to searching street samples that have been “stepped on”—meaning diluted. There simply isn’t much for them to detect.
“When dogs are familiar with drugs that have been diluted three or four times, to encounter something of this magnitude can be like a smack to the face,” said Task Force Officer Michael Loney, a Tequesta Police detective who also works with Drug Enforcement Administration’s Miami Field Division. “The K-9s have never smelled this amount and this purity. It’s an incredible opportunity.”
Once the plane landed in Fort Lauderdale from South America, the handlers took their K-9s around the hangar to get them acclimated before moving to the plane. They searched around the aircraft until it was time to test them on the large front door where the drugs were hidden.
“This is a great opportunity for state and federal law enforcement agencies,” said DEA Miami Field Division Aviation Assistant Special Agent in Charge Rodney Reston. “We encounter thousands of pounds of seized drugs. This is the first time we’ve invited dogs to train with it.”
Participating police departments included West Palm Beach Police Department (PD); Palm Beach Gardens PD; Riviera Beach PD; Tequesta PD; Juno Beach PD; and Port St. Lucie PD.
“DEA allowing us to have this exposure is a lifetime opportunity that most handlers will never experience,” said Loney, a K-9 handler since 2011. “Our law enforcement group’s response was amazing. They were so excited to be here and would love to do it again. I hope this sets a precedent because this training is so superior I can’t even explain.”
DEA Miami Field Division Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter also sees the benefit and likes the idea of a two-for-one opportunity.
“I fully support getting everything we can from a large drug seizure,” said Reuter. “First, you keep drugs off the streets and disrupt cartel activity. And second, you’re able to provide a unique training opportunity for our local police departments. That is a great use of resources.”
