A Golden Retriever named Goose is one of America’s most trusty defenders against fentanyl trafficking at the Mexico border.
Goose uses his nose to sniff out illicit drugs at San Diego’s vast legal border crossing, where nearly 100,000 people entering the U.S. pass through each day.
The Golden Retriever is one of 536 U.S. Customs and Border Protection canines trained to detect drugs, guns, ammunition, money and hidden passengers at America’s land border crossings, airports, and seaports, Reuters reported.
Customs officers at CBP’s canine academy in Front Royal, Virginia, are matched with dogs that they train to sniff out marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and fentanyl, by filling chew toys with “pseudo-narcotics” that smell like the actual drug.
The dogs in the program are normally German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Dutch Shepherds and German Shorthaired Pointers, said Donna Sifford, the academy’s director. There are three other Golden Retrievers in the program besides Goose.
Despite other methods of targeting potential smugglers like technology that allows CBP to scan vehicles, a dog’s sense of smell remains essential for exposing fentanyl and other narcotics.
A devastating 75,000 people died from synthetic opioid overdoses in 2023, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Customs and Border Protection statistics show the majority of fentanyl seizures occur at legal border crossings in Arizona and California.
The dogs’ advanced sense of smell will save lives.
“They’re like biosensors,” Michael Gould, a founding member of the New York City Police Department’s canine unit told Reuters. “It’s really the best technology that’s available.”