PDEA to bolster capability of K9 dogs

THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Sunday that it is planning to empower private canine service providers to bolster the quality and credibility of accredited drug-sniffing dogs in the country.

PDEA Director General Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac Jr. said efforts have been made to amend the provision concerning pieces of drug evidence no longer needed by the courts be made available to K-9 schools as training aids.

Through the amendment of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Regulation Number 1, Series of 2002, which discusses the custody and disposition of seized dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals and laboratory equipment, canine providers can acquire illegal drugs to be utilized in the training of drug detection dogs without legal implications, he said.

PDEA has been the recipient of 20 Belgian Mallinois puppies from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), to be added to their existing 15 working dogs under the Special Enforcement Service (SES) K-9 unit.

The PCG has included the PDEA K-9 handlers in its upcoming handler’s training course to be held at the PCG K-9 breeding and training facility in Taguig City this month.

“Public places, such as schools and other establishments where illegal drugs are smuggled and transited, will be duly covered with the presence of more quality drug detection dogs. With more K-9s, we will be able to cover wider areas in our illegal drug detection efforts,” Cacdac said. (SDR/Sunnex)