The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has taken a giant stride to enhance its drug interdiction capacity through a special refresher training program for its canine handlers and service dogs facilitated by German technical specialists.
The training, which took place at the NDLEA Canine Unit Facility in Lagos, was in conjunction with Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, the Bundeskriminalamt, and was led by two German dog handling experts, Andreas Rosher and Jacqueline Shüler.
The drill included 11 members of the Canine Unit – the unit commander, two veterinary physicians and eight dog handlers with their service canines. Five other policemen from NDLEA commands in Lagos who expressed interest in joining the squad also took part.
The school included advanced obedience and control, drug detection, scent imprinting and search patterns, handler safety and methods for deploying canine assets in high risk areas.
Real life simulation exercises were carried out at the baggage hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, APM Terminals Apapa and the MMIA NAHCO export yard.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), praised the exercise as a show of the agency’s dedication to establishing a highly skilled workforce capable of matching the sophistication of current drug trafficking networks.
“Our canine teams remain one of the most powerful tools in our detection and interdiction efforts and that is why we will continue to invest in their retraining and welfare,” Marwa added.
He credited the results in detecting concealed narcotics at airports, seaports and border crossings to the dedication and heightened intuition of the canines and their handlers.
“This partnership with our German counterparts further boosts that capacity and brings our operations in line with global best practices,” Marwa said.
The NDLEA chairman also noted the manpower and logistics issues facing the Canine Unit, including the lack of service canines, personnel and boarding facilities, which limit its capacity to provide adequate coverage across the country’s seaports, international airports and land borders.
“We are planning to fill these gaps as recommended by the German experts that this refresher training be kept as an annual exercise,” he said.
The training comes as the agency continues to try to detect drugs.
In August, NDLEA seized about 3.9 million tablets of tramadol and tapentadol and 47,200 pills of captagon at MMIA Lagos, with the consignments valued at over N6.2 billion.
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