Pubdate: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Copyright: 2000 The Sydney Morning Herald Contact: GPO Box 3771, Sydney NSW 2001 Fax: +61-(0)2-9282 3492 Website: http://www.smh.com.au/ Forum: http://forums.fairfax.com.au/ Author: David Humphries, State Political Editor SNIFFER DOGS SOOLED ONTO DRUGS IN JAILS While the State Government yesterday was boasting about the biggest drug bust at a NSW prison, police were parading the latest recruits to their dog unit - four cannabis-sniffing labradors. The Police Minister, Mr Whelan, said the dogs were being used to beat the transportation of cannabis, particularly in trucks, but the program might be expanded to include checks on trains. In a six-month trial, the dogs had searched 285 vehicles and found drugs 184 times. . The Corrective Services Department's dog detection unit led to a record drug bust at Silverwater Jail at the weekend, when a male visitor's Holden Commodore was found to contain "all the ingredients of a mobile amphetamine laboratory", the Corrective Services Minister, Mr Debus, told Parliament yesterday. The seizure included 2,520 pseudoephedrine tablets, 1,260 Sudafed tablets, a set of digital scales, glass containers, a test-tube catalogue and a syringe. Police are investigating . "I am advised that quantity of tablets can be distilled into amphetamines with a street value of more than $200,000. In jail currency, this could be worth up to three times as much." At Silverwater, Junee, Lithgow and Grafton jails at the weekend, sniffer dogs helped in the arrest and charging of 12 people with drugs possession, trafficking drugs into a prison, knives and vehicle offences. In the first seven months of the year, 109 visitors were charged with drug offences. Mr Debus said smuggling vehicles included pram handles, nappies, bras, hair bands, dentures, an eye patch, the tongues of sneakers, and false pockets. "They have even gone so far as to soak cigarette filters in heroin," he said. The head of the police dog unit, Inspector Peter Crumblin, said his latest recruits would eventually be trained to detect drugs other than cannabis. He said the dogs were not used in random checks but targeted vehicles identified by police intelligence. "There must be a reason that draws our involvement," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: John Chase