Home Minister: Police dogs should be trained to detect drugs, explosives, forged banknotes

Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer has urged relevant authorities to train the police dogs acquired by the government in a move towards crime prevention, to detect illicit drugs, explosives, and forged banknotes.

The minister made this remark at a ceremony at the airport this morning, for the official handover to the police, of the dog kennels constructed by Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL).

Umar Naseer said that in addition to illicit drugs, sniffer dogs are capable of identifying also explosives and forged bank notes, and training them in this regard would help police in their efforts to fight crime.

Sixteen dogs, several of which are German Shepherds, are scheduled to arrive in the Maldives from 23 March. Three or four dogs will arrive at a time, and the Home Minister said that the dogs will be further trained for about three months at the kennels established at the airport.

He added that the government plans to bring more police dogs to be used in Addu, Kulhudhuffushi, and other locations.

A book on the efforts to establish the dog shelters at the airport, which are equipped with fans and a dog bathtub, was presented to Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed, at today’s ceremony.