Sniffer dogs help Mexico City’s subway fight drug dealing

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In order to suppress drug dealing at Mexico City’s subway, also known as Metro, authorities, along with the Banking and Industrial Police (PIB) of the Citizen Security Ministry (SSC), will perform operations with 14 trained dogs .

Every day, three teams of police officers and dogs will go through the Pino Suárez station in Line 1 and 2, Hidalgo in Line 2 and 3, Guerrero, and Tacubaya, where there has been a higher crime incidence, as well as the presence of people with drug doses .

First, they will detect possible suspects that enter into any of the stations and the PBI officers will immediately stop them; the dogs will intervene to detect the alleged illegal substances.

Officer Óscar de la Rosa, who has been training dogs for five years for the PBI, told EL UNIVERSAL that this strategy, that had not been seen before inside the Metro, is a response to the crime incidence registered in the four stations, in addition to warnings about criminal groups using this transport to move drugs in the city.

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Nevertheless, he added that although it is hard for them to move big amounts of drugs, the SSC is focused on prevention, for they have detected some suspects with drugs.

“We are going to be based on the information of the Metro; they have pinpointed some people and that is our objective. What we’re looking for is to halt the sale and intake of illegal substances as well as the illegal sale of fireworks,” he explained.

Sniffer dogs help Mexico City’s subway fight drug dealing

One of the officers said that they have even received information about the alleged presence of members of the La Unión Tepito cartel in those subway stations, another reason to implement the operation.

Warrant officer Samuel Baltazar, chief of the PBI’s Canine Unit, said that the dogs were selected as the friendliest to users, so they do not expect any conflict.

The dogs will be rotated each day and they will only be able to work three hours at a time with breaks.