THE DOGS of the Public Force have taken a high notoriety these days. The entire country hoped for several weeks for Wilson to appear, the canine that was key in finding the four indigenous children who had been lost in the jungles of Guaviare after his plane crashed. And now there is a lot of talk about Happy 4, a farmer who died after a terrorist attack, after he managed to detect the presence of explosives.
The work that these canines have been doing is so important and effective that they are already in the crosshairs of illegal groups, which is why security measures for these four-legged heroes have been increased.
As is well known, the Military Forces and the National Police use dogs specially trained in the detection of explosives, drugs, money, as well as in search and rescue, among other specialties.
The director of Carabineros and Environmental Protection of the National Police, Colonel William Castaño Ramos, in dialogue with EL NUEVO SIGLO, explained that the institution is deepening the techniques to protect dogs in potentially risky situations.
“Ensuring the integrity of our canines, different techniques have been developed in order to reinforce the passive signal and reward the toy from a distance with a release voice, once the substance is detected, so that it immediately moves away from the area at risk,” said the senior official, stressing that with these new procedures “we safeguard the integrity of the canine, the guide and other people who may be in the risk area.”
The colonel maintained that the dogs at the service of the Police every day provide results in the fight against crime. For example, Bronxo, a Dutch shepherd, has in his records the discovery of more than four tons of cocaine in the last 18 months.
Precisely for this reason, this dog and others like Killer, specialized in the detection of narcotics, are the target of actions by drug trafficking networks that offer millions of dollars to end their lives.
“All the canines of the institution have permanent care and custody by police officers trained to care 24 hours a day, guaranteeing their integrity and well-being during service and rest periods, avoiding third-party access to the canine units”, affirmed Castaño Ramos.
In those cases where it is possible to demonstrate a risk that could affect the integrity of our canines, “corresponding measures are issued in each case, ensuring their integrity and well-being,” he said.
For the colonel, it is clear that “all canines specialized in detecting narcotics in Colombia can be the object of threats, taking into account that their findings are affecting the criminal income of groups outside the law, since these little animals are biosensors and incorruptible. This is why canines are so feared by criminal organizations.”
binomials
For the Police, “the four-legged heroes” more than a work tool are friends, faithful and inseparable companions who are part of the institutional family and that of the guide.
“It is important to recognize that our guide-canine pairs, deployed throughout the country to support the fight against drug trafficking and multi-crime organizations, are exposed to threats from these groups outside the law. For this reason, they are trained with the highest international standards in substance detection, seeking to minimize risks as much as possible,” said the director of Carabineros and Environmental Protection.
For the colonel, it is very comforting that in all the areas where the Police are present, the population shows special appreciation for the dogs, not only because they know that they help to discover and neutralize explosives that are a potential threat to civilians. , but because they are very affectionate animals.
“You can always see the closeness and trust of the peasants towards the Police, since supported by the work carried out by the canine handlers, they provide security and protection in the detection of explosives,” said the senior officer.
“The support of our canines is of vital importance, because due to their sense of smell, training and skill in detecting substances, they provide security to counteract criminal action, not only in the field of narcotics and explosives, but also in search and rescue. of people, detection of wildlife, detection of paper money, hydrocarbons and location of corpses”, explained the colonel.
In fact, the training of canines is constant so that they are ready to detect new threats. For example, dogs are currently being used to detect fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It is the drug that is causing the most deaths in the world (especially in the United States, where it caused more than 100,000 deaths) and alerts are already on in our country due to the risk of it beginning to be trafficked.
Happy 4
As stated at the beginning, this week the commander of the Military Forces, General Hélder Fernán Giraldo Bonilla, lamented the death of Happy 4, the farmer who prevented a tragedy by detecting an explosive charge in the urban perimeter of the municipality of Puerto Rico, in the goal.
Giraldo Bonilla explained that the community informed the Police about the presence of a strange package and the uniformed officers, in turn, contacted the command of the Omega Joint Task Force, who immediately went to the suspicious spot in the neighborhood. The garden.
“Once the procedure was legalized, the canine was sent, which identified the explosive device, but when he was returning to his guide, the charge was activated by remote control, which caused his death, while five people were injured,” said the senior officer. official.
The authorities accuse the “Central General Staff” (FARC dissidents) of being responsible for the criminal action.
The yellow”
On the other hand, the Army maintains 24-hour protection for Killer, a Labrador retriever who has drug trafficking networks in check in a region of the country.
“That yellow dog became a headache for us, because it detects everything that smells of marijuana. We have not been able to turn that dog around ”, is heard in a communication intercepted by the intelligence services.
EL NUEVO SIGLO learned from high-ranking authorities that at least a dozen other dogs, due to their effectiveness in their fight against drug trafficking, would be in the middle of factions of the “Clan del Golfo” and other drug trafficking networks.
The mafia would have put a price on the lives of Sombra, Lilo, Tarzan and Hamlet, since they are responsible for the seizure of more than six tons of cocaine hydrochloride.
“All the dogs were relocated amid strict security measures, because we are one family,” said Colonel Castaño Ramos.