“Tails” of K9: Meet Molly, King & Voodoo
Molly is a 3-year-old Labrador retriever and has been part of the Narcotics Street Team for over a year. As a narcotics detection canine, Molly can identify methamphetamine, heroin, powder cocaine, rock cocaine, marijuana, and fentanyl. Shortly after receiving her training, she alerted to a vehicle, leading officers to recover about 1.5 pounds of fentanyl, preventing potentially hundreds of overdoses.
King has served as a certified narcotic detection canine since September 2017. He is trained to detect the odors of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and fentanyl.
His services were requested by patrol officers on a vehicle stop. Officers believed the occupants of the SUV were transporting narcotics, but had already searched the vehicle and could not find anything. King conducted a sniff of the vehicle and alerted to the rear lift gate, which was open and had already been searched. Officers removed the plastic molding of the lift gate and recovered 30,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills.
Voodoo is an Irish Labrador retriever from Carlow, Ireland. She can detect a wide variety of drugs, including fentanyl. Assigned to the DEA Narcotic Task Force, her primary responsibilities include disrupting the narcotics trade at the San Diego International Airport.
Canine Voodoo has helped seize hundreds of pounds of illegal narcotics along with hundreds of thousands of dollars that were directly related to drug trafficking.
Voodoo was nominated for the San Diego Animal Hero Awards for being an “outstanding narcotic working dog.” She is an educational ambassador who visits local schools during red ribbon week.
SDPD’s narcotics detection canines like Molly, King, and Voodoo, are often funded by the Police Foundation through generous donations by community members.
Like police officers, police canines have diverse specialties and serve various units. The “Tails” of K9 series highlights K9 Crimefighters that serve SDPD and our community.