Marine
11-27-2002, 2:14am
By SETH HETTENA
Associated Press Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mexico’s most-feared drug cartel put a price on
his furry head. Over the years, his keen nose routinely frustrated
smugglers by sniffing out 33 tons of drugs valued at more than $306
million.
“Officer Krowbar” retired Tuesday from the U.S. Customs
Service, with agency officials praising him as the best drug dog
ever to work at the world’s busiest border crossing.
“I’ve never seen an animal like this in my life,” said James
Henderson, who heads Customs’ K-9 unit in Southern California and
has been working with dogs since 1961. “He’s a living legend.”
About two years ago, investigators heard through informants that
the Arellano-Felix cartel, the powerful Tijuana-based drug
smuggling gang, had put a $50,000 price on Krowbar’s head,
Henderson said.
Krowbar never stopped working. But he turns 10 in a few months —
70 in human years — and he’s earned a well-deserved rest in the
backyard of the home of his handler, Officer Steve Ralston.
In a ceremony marking the end of a dog’s days working what
agents call “the line,” Ralston slipped the U.S. Customs Service
dog collar off Krowbar’s neck and replaced it with a plain black
one.
“Every time I took that dog out on that line he hunted like
there was no tomorrow,” said Ralston, who got Krowbar from a Los
Angeles breeder. “What we called work, that was a game to him.”
The 85-pound Belgian Malinois, a breed that resembles German
Shepherds, seemed a little confused by all the attention at the San
Ysidro Port of Entry, which links Mexico and San Diego.
He yawned and coughed a few times during speeches.
His ears did ***** up, however, when the audience applauded the
highlights of his seven-year career: seizures totaling more than
65,000 pounds of marijuana, 700 pounds of cocaine and 34 pounds of
heroin.
In 1999, Krowbar and Ralston received the Commissioner’s Award,
from then-Commissioner Raymond Kelly in Washington, D.C. Kelly
shook Ralston’s hand and Krowbar’s paw.
Ralston will soon start working with a 4-year-old Rottweiler
named Brownie.
The 50 or so Customs dogs that work in San Diego are hunting for
a favorite toy — in Krowbar’s case, a small, white towel — when
they search through some of the 40,000 vehicles that cross from
Tijuana on an average day. In training, they learn to associate the
smell of drugs with the toy.
But Krowbar showed an unusual eagerness to find his towel,
making him a stellar dog. A typical Customs dog in its career will
sniff out half or less of the amount of drugs Krowbar found.
“He’s one of those one-in-a-million dogs,” Henderson said.
Krowbar began his retirement by gnawing contentedly on a
farewell gift: a foot-long rawhide bone. Customs also gave him a
small red fire hydrant that will sit in his backyard.
———
On the Net:
Customs: www.customs.gov/enforcem/k9.htm
I'd salute that dog.
Associated Press Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mexico’s most-feared drug cartel put a price on
his furry head. Over the years, his keen nose routinely frustrated
smugglers by sniffing out 33 tons of drugs valued at more than $306
million.
“Officer Krowbar” retired Tuesday from the U.S. Customs
Service, with agency officials praising him as the best drug dog
ever to work at the world’s busiest border crossing.
“I’ve never seen an animal like this in my life,” said James
Henderson, who heads Customs’ K-9 unit in Southern California and
has been working with dogs since 1961. “He’s a living legend.”
About two years ago, investigators heard through informants that
the Arellano-Felix cartel, the powerful Tijuana-based drug
smuggling gang, had put a $50,000 price on Krowbar’s head,
Henderson said.
Krowbar never stopped working. But he turns 10 in a few months —
70 in human years — and he’s earned a well-deserved rest in the
backyard of the home of his handler, Officer Steve Ralston.
In a ceremony marking the end of a dog’s days working what
agents call “the line,” Ralston slipped the U.S. Customs Service
dog collar off Krowbar’s neck and replaced it with a plain black
one.
“Every time I took that dog out on that line he hunted like
there was no tomorrow,” said Ralston, who got Krowbar from a Los
Angeles breeder. “What we called work, that was a game to him.”
The 85-pound Belgian Malinois, a breed that resembles German
Shepherds, seemed a little confused by all the attention at the San
Ysidro Port of Entry, which links Mexico and San Diego.
He yawned and coughed a few times during speeches.
His ears did ***** up, however, when the audience applauded the
highlights of his seven-year career: seizures totaling more than
65,000 pounds of marijuana, 700 pounds of cocaine and 34 pounds of
heroin.
In 1999, Krowbar and Ralston received the Commissioner’s Award,
from then-Commissioner Raymond Kelly in Washington, D.C. Kelly
shook Ralston’s hand and Krowbar’s paw.
Ralston will soon start working with a 4-year-old Rottweiler
named Brownie.
The 50 or so Customs dogs that work in San Diego are hunting for
a favorite toy — in Krowbar’s case, a small, white towel — when
they search through some of the 40,000 vehicles that cross from
Tijuana on an average day. In training, they learn to associate the
smell of drugs with the toy.
But Krowbar showed an unusual eagerness to find his towel,
making him a stellar dog. A typical Customs dog in its career will
sniff out half or less of the amount of drugs Krowbar found.
“He’s one of those one-in-a-million dogs,” Henderson said.
Krowbar began his retirement by gnawing contentedly on a
farewell gift: a foot-long rawhide bone. Customs also gave him a
small red fire hydrant that will sit in his backyard.
———
On the Net:
Customs: www.customs.gov/enforcem/k9.htm
I'd salute that dog.