Overview

• Kate, a seven-year-old German Shepherd, is trained to freeze and point at the strongest scent source to signal suspicious odors.
• She uncovered twelve vacuum-sealed parcels containing about 22 kilograms of marijuana and nearly four kilograms of hashish.
• Smugglers concealed the drugs with deceptive labels such as "Bekleidung," "Maschinenteile" and "kühlende Hundegeschirre."
• The packages originated from the United States and were addressed to recipients in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Switzerland.
• The Hauptzollamt Köln processed the seizure before handing it over to Zollfahndungsamt Essen for follow-up investigations.