[ad_1]
Receive last minute alerts and special reports. News and stories that matter are the mornings of the week
BOGOTA, Colombia -Sombra, a six-year-old German Shepherd, helped Colombian police detect more than 2,000 kilograms of hidden cocaine in suitcases, boats and
But as the dog sniffs his way to record cocaine bans, she has also become the last target of Colombia's most powerful drug gang.
Colombian police recently revealed that the Gulf clan The threat has prompted the authorities to relocate Sombra – whose name in Spanish means Shadow – from a busy port on the Caribbean coast of Colombia to the capital , where she now uses her extraordinary talent to sniff suspicious goods at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota.
After six hours of work, Sombra is transported in a van with tinted windows. Back to his kennel. She is usually accompanied by two armed guards
"We are responsible for her safety," said officer Jose Rojas, the 25-year-old driver from Sombra.
The detective work of Sombra is more than ever necessary since Colombia fights against the production of coca which traditionally tests the close relations with the United States. A recent White House report found 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 (19659012). The record growth in cocaine production must be reversed, "warned Jim Carroll, deputy director of the Office 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 state-of-the-art technology, experts say detective work on the ground is critical.
Some of Sombra's recent battles include the discovery of five tons of Gulf Clan cocaine destined for Europe and concealed in banana crates.Actors also credit its incredible nose with more than 245 drug-related arrests in two of Colombia's largest international airports.
" His sense of smell is far beyond that of other dogs, "says Rojas.Clan took note.
After learning that there was a price on the head of Sombra, the director of the Colombian National Police ordered him to be transferred to a new post earlier this year, according to local reports. 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 pointed ears and gaping mouth, she looks more like a beloved pet than a police sniffer dog.
Since being transferred in January, the Shadow dog 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 placed at the bottom of an industrial machine.
Source link
