Sniffer dog finds cocaine
16oct04
THE well trained nose of Glory, a three-year-old black Labrador, unravelled a Portuguese man's plan to enter Australia with packages of cocaine strapped to his calves.
Glory was doing her usual rounds sniffing baggage on the luggage carousel at Sydney International Airport on Friday when a particular suitcase caught her attention.
The suitcase's owner was later identified as 33-year-old Portuguese national Francisco Doutel Soares, a resident of Warwick Farm in Sydney's west, who had arrived on a flight from Chile in South America.
Australian Customs Service officers questioned Doutel Soares before finding packages containing cocaine powder strapped with sticky tape to his calves.
The exact quantity of the drug was still being determined.
He reportedly admitted to carrying the drugs and was later charged with importing a prohibited import.
An Australian Federal Police (AFP) spokesman said Soares was refused bail in Parramatta Local Court today and would reappear at Central Local Court on Monday.
The maximum penalty for drug trafficking offences is a fine of up to $750,000 and/or life imprisonment.
From:
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,11096646%5E1702,00.html