Dog unit sniffs out €6.28m in illicit goods

Smugglers and drug mules beware — the State’s 13-strong canine unit has upped its game considerably this year to already sniff out over €6.2m worth of illicit drugs, cigarettes, and cash.

Figures released by Revenue show that in the eight months to the end of August, the Canine Unit — headed by Rosslare-based sniffer dog Ralph — has already sniffed out almost four times the amount of illicit items seized throughout the whole of 2012.

In response to a freedom of information request, Revenue figures show that seizures to the end of August total €6.28m — this compares to a total of €1.69m for 2012 and €1.54m for 2011.

This shows that the 13 dogs are more than paying their way: The cost of financing the canine unit to date this year totals €59,519 — though this figure does not include staff costs.

Most recently, Ralph was central to a seizure of 10.26kg of heroin with a street value of €1.54m at Rosslare Europort.

According to Revenue: “Following routine profiling, Revenue’s sniffer dog, Ralph, gave a positive reaction on a vehicle that had disembarked from a ferry from France.

“A Mercedes Jeep was scanned by the Customs X-ray scanner, which indicated an anomaly, and the drugs were found concealed in the vehicle.”

On the costs of operating the unit, it said: “The cost of the canine unit can vary year to year depending on numerous factors such as the number of new or replacement dogs required, the number of new handlers to be trained, vehicle, travel, veterinary, and other relevant costs”.

According to a Revenue spokeswoman: “The canine programme has been a success for Revenue’s Customs Service since its inception.

“Over the years the teams have assisted in the detection of significant quantities of drugs, cigarettes, and criminal cash.

“These detections have led to successful convictions and have disrupted the activities of the criminals involved in trafficking activity.

Revenue cautioned that the figures provided do not include seizure stats for three of the dogs and these figures will be available in the coming weeks.

“The detector dog teams maintain a high public visibility at the ports, airports, postal depots, and freight forwarders’ premises in which they routinely operate and, in addition to their ability to assist detection and, also constitute an important — and for the would-be smuggler — unpredictable deterrent factor.

The spokeswoman added: “The deployment of detector dog teams is internationally recognised by the law enforcement community as representing best practice.”