K-9 agents help intercept most sinister plots against country

HOUSTON – K-9 airport agents intercept money, drugs and guns at Houston’s airports. The four-legged agents are also trained to stop the most sinister plots against the country.

The K-9 agents are on the job at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport, watching for trouble.

"I am amazed when I see what these dogs can do," George Bush Intercontinental Airport chief Customs and Border Protection officer Alicia Tellez said. "Their drive, their work ethic -- it's incredible."

They look friendly and cute, but they are actually four-legged government agents, working to keep people safe.

"The dogs are searching people. They're searching luggage. They're searching cargo and conveyances," Tellez said.

Gina, a K-9, is trained to find two things commonly smuggled into the country: Humans and drugs.

Another dog team sniffs out firearms and currency.

"Houston Customs and Border Protection teams have been very successful at intercepting unreported currency," Tellez said.

Agency officials said the K-9 teams discovered $923,000 that people were trying to smuggle out of the country last year.

The dogs have been even more successful with narcotics, helping agents seize more than 630 pounds of drugs in 2015.

"(The dogs are) very, very accurate," Tellez said. "They receive specialized training, and we're all very proud of the work that the K-9 teams do."

While customs' dogs keep things from going in and out of the country, dogs working for the Transportation Security Administration focus on picking up explosive scents and other dangers to travelers.

"With the new trend, and with what's happening in the world today, now, we do a lot of training with the devices planted on the person," TSA K-9 trainer J.J. Wilson said. "It's a new entity, and we've been pretty successful so far."

The TSA dogs and their handlers are trained at a new facility at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. It's one of two training centers in the country.

The dogs are hand picked and arrive as beginners.

"They are very hyper, rambunctious dogs," TSA K-9 trainer Christopher Knight said. "The first 20 days of training or so, you're like, 'Why do I do this for a living?' And day 21, 'OK, now I realize why I do this,' and and then you get to this stage and its like, 'Wow, it's great.'"

The trainees will spend 10 weeks going through real-life scenarios.

Once they're on the job, the dogs keep their skills fresh with continuous practice, just like their counterparts over in customs.

CBP also has K-9 agents that help in search and rescue missions and for trailing and tracking suspects.


About the Authors:

Award-winning journalist, adventure seeker, explorer, dog lover.

Dawn Jorgenson, Graham Media Group Branded Content Managing Editor, began working with the group in April 2013. She graduated from Texas State University with a degree in electronic media.