Logan Airport’s Cash Sniffing Dog

BOSTON (WBZ) ― When it comes to tracking terrorists in today’s dangerous world, investigators often focus on the flow of money. Computers and electronic records are vital in this effort. But here in Boston so is the ability to smell. International travelers arriving in Boston are carefully scrutinized daily by highly trained federal customs officers. And during the past six months, these More..officers have been joined by a yellow lab named "Rolf." He is not sniffing for explosives or drugs, but large amounts of cash. Officer Caroline Tully is with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and she is Rolf's handler. "There is a certain odor to currency, especially large amounts of it, and he can smell it thru anything." Why the emphasis on cash or currency? Because as the saying goes, follow the money, it can lead to a lot of dangerous places. William Ferrara oversees customs at Logan Airport. "A lot of time it does lead to criminal organizations and terrorist organizations and it does disrupt them when we take away their money." Border Protection Officers have found cash stuffed in shoes, back packs, food containers, trash bags and specially made shorts. But now what they miss is being sniffed out by Rolf. By law, if you are carrying more than $10,000 cash, you must declare it in writing before entering or leaving the country. At Logan this year, $3.2 million in hidden currency has been confiscated during 150 seizures. Rolf, hit on a Nigerian passenger traveling thru London to Boston. It turns out the man's paperwork was all in order. He had declared in writing that he was carrying 12 thousand dollars cash in three different currencies. Nonetheless, it was carefully counted and the man questioned. Even he had kind words for the cash sniffing dog. Msoo Iger told Joe Shortsleeve. "I actually had some money on me. It was pretty impressive." Officer Ferrara says we are safer today because of Rolf. "Absolutely, because of Officer Tully and Rolf we...

Channel: LiveLeak Video Length: 0s Date Found: Wed, Jul 28 2010 12:54 AM Category: Educational Date Produced: Fri, Feb 12 2010 12:00 AM View Count: 0