Pubdate: Sat, 21 May 2005
Source: BBC News (UK Web)
Copyright: 2005 BBC
Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

POWDER MIX-UP FOOLS SNIFFER DOGS

A team of Australian drug sniffer dogs has been sent back for retraining, 
after it was found they could only track talcum powder, not cocaine.

Melbourne police found that the white powder used to hone the dogs' 
nostrils was not in fact an illegal substance.

A probe is now under way to see whether any illicit drugs have gone missing.

"They're very good at detecting talcum powder," joked Assistant 
Commissioner Paul Evans. "If there's any missing kids, we'll find them 
fairly quickly."

The seven dogs had been in training since January.

They are meant to sit down next to a person, when they detect the scent of 
cocaine.

Unfortunately, the dogs have yet to smell the drug, since the bag of white 
powder supplied by the Australian Federal Police for the canine training 
turned out to be talcum powder.

Police in Victoria have launched an inquiry to see whether any cocaine has 
gone missing.

But Assistant Commissioner Evans said that drugs were sometimes cut with 
other substances.

It was also possible that the training bag was mislabelled.

"It's embarrassing," Mr Evans told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"It shouldn't happen, it did happen, it certainly tested our audit 
procedures, which have worked in this case.

"We have picked it up ourselves fairly quickly."

Victoria's Police Minister Tim Holding was unimpressed.

"I was surprised and I was disappointed," he said.

There is no word on how long it will take to break the dogs' talcum habit 
and retrain them to react only to cocaine. 
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