Because dogs possess a sense of smell thousands of times stronger than that of humans, the K9 unit of Dubai Customs has demonstrated exceptional success. With the assistance of the K9 unit, customs authorities have been more effective in detecting illegal drug smuggling and explosive materials at the borders of the United Arab Emirates. This was stated during an interview with Dubai Customs.
It was reported that various breeds in the customs K9 team—including Springers, Spaniels, German Shepherds, Malinois, and Labradors—have played a key role 84 times over the past five years in preventing and seizing drug smuggling attempts.
Adel Al Suwaidi, Director of the Technical Support Department at Dubai Customs K9, told Al Arabiya that the K9 unit has played an important role in foiling smuggling and explosive trafficking attempts not only at the UAE’s ports and land borders but also at airports.
These different breeds of dogs possess extraordinary sniffing capabilities and, due to their effectiveness in operations and their strong loyalty, are considered invaluable assets.
With their help, 308,020 Captagon pills were seized in a successful operation in Deira Wharfage. The Captagon pills had been hidden beneath wooden flooring. Another successful operation was carried out in Jebel Ali, during which Captagon pills, hashish, and other types of narcotics were confiscated.
Sniffer dogs also played a vital role in detecting drugs concealed within fruit consignments. By using their exceptional sense of smell, these dogs are able to identify narcotics and explosive materials, as their olfactory ability is thousands of times more powerful than that of humans.