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BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (AP) – This is the story of a dog drug with a bonus on his head.
Sombra, a six-year-old German shepherd, helped the Colombian police detect more than 2,000 kilograms of cocaine hidden in suitcases, boats and large cargoes of fruit.
But the dog sniffs records of cocaine bans, she also became the last target of Colombia's most powerful drug gang
Colombian police recently revealed that the Gulf clan, which has its own guerrilla army, offered a $ 7,000 reward to anyone who killed it.
The threat prompted the authorities to move Sombra – whose name in Spanish means Ombre – from a busy port of the Colombian Caribbean coast to the capital, where she now uses her extraordinary talent to sniff suspicious goods at the El Dorado International Airport of Bogota.
After six hours of work, Sombra is transported in a van with tinted windows in her niche. She is usually accompanied by two armed guards
"We are responsible for her safety," said officer Jose Rojas, the 25-year-old Sombra manager.
The detective work of Sombra is more necessary than ever. a burgeoning coca production that tests traditionally close relations with the United States. A recent White House report showed that the amount of land used by peasants and drug traffickers to make cocaine increased by 11 percent in 2017, despite $ 10 billion in counter-narcotics (19659010). The record growth in cocaine production must be reversed, "warned Jim Carroll, deputy director of the Bureau of Drug Policy.
President-elect Ivan Duque promises a harder approach to accelerate eradication with strategies that could include aerial spraying and the use of drones. But even with cutting-edge technology, experts say that detective work on the ground is critical.
Some of the recent incidents in Sombra include the discovery of five tons of Gulf Clan cocaine destined for Europe and concealed in banana crates. The agents also credit his incredible nose with more than 245 drug-related arrests in two of Colombia's largest international airports.
"His sense of smell far exceeds that of other dogs," said Rojas.
The cartels of the drug Clan took note.
After learning that there was a price on Sombra's head, the director of the Colombian National Police ordered him to be transferred to a new post earlier this year, according to local reports . The investigators discovered the threat against Sombra through an intercepted phone call.
"Sombra the German shepherd became the terror of criminal organizations", recently proclaimed a story in the Colombian newspaper El Espectador
. at 6 am and hitched a kennel to work at the El Dorado airport inspecting packages and cargo. With her reflective neon vest, her pointy ears and gaping mouth, she looks more like a favorite pet to a drug-sniffing police dog.
Since being transferred in January, Shadow has sniffed thousands of pounds of cocaine. out of the dark, helping her managers find the hidden drug in boxes full of sneakers and wooden necklaces. A few months ago, the tenacious dog also sniffed 77 kilos of cocaine buried in an industrial machine
The work is risky: the Colombian national police estimates to have lost at least 1,800 officers during the last two decades and a number dogs in the war on drugs. Some officers were killed by hitmen acting on the orders of drug traffickers, while others died in attacks such as bombings in police stations. Several dogs were killed while they were helping the officers to eradicate the coke crops.
Sombra's victories turned her into a media darling, and while she was strutting around the Bogota airport, her fans sometimes stopped her for a selfie. "Sombra compared to other dogs is much easier to work with," he says. "She understands the orders of a leader and she is more playful than others."
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This document may not be published, distributed, rewritten or redistributed.
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