Dogs sniff out street drugs
Shelley Hodgson
01 July 2004
SNIFFER dogs hit the streets of Melbourne yesterday as the latest weapon in a police crackdown on city drug traffickers.
Superintendent Mick Williams said the Bourke St/Russell St area was renowned as a drug trafficking hotspot.
This latest operation aims to send a message to drug peddlers they don't own the streets, Supt Williams said.
Phase one began last week when undercover police identified 19 traffickers. They returned on Monday and charged 12.
The dogs, known as passive alert detector dogs, were used yesterday for the first time in Melbourne, sniffing the air to detect the presence of narcotics. They were previously used in Richmond and Footscray.
The blitz led to 16 people being searched. Six were nabbed for drug offences and another four are facing charges including theft, breaching bail conditions and being wanted on a warrant.
Police will continue using dogs in the area to sniff out the traffickers and deter their customers from going into the city to buy drugs.
Supt Williams said there were about 700 incidents a month of personal property theft in the city. Most of them were directly related to the drug trade.
And he warned amusement parlours around Russell St to beware of drug dealers who tried to use them as havens during police blitzes.
"At the end of the day, if it means these amusement centres need to be closed down, then clearly that must be done," Supt Williams said.
He said under their planning permits, operators were required to have closed-circuit TV and a security guard.
