The two sniffer dogs used at the Cheddi Jagan Inter-national Airport, Timehri may have outlived their usefulness as they failed a routine test carried out by police yesterday Stabroek News has been reliably informed.

According to reports, the two dogs, Argon and Lacy, were involved in an exercise yesterday morning in the compound of the Ministry of Home Affairs and they failed to detect cocaine that was planted in the compound. This newspaper was told that Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, top police personnel and officers from the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) were present during the exercise.

Sources pointed out that the failure of the dogs to detect the cocaine means they may no longer be useful to the force and will have to be replaced.

Sources told Stabroek News that the exercise was prompted following the June 2 bust of 40 pounds of cocaine in the US that slipped through the local airport and the fact the bust occurred after a similar slip in January when a pink suitcase laden with 50 pounds of cocaine also left the airport undetected.

However, the source pointed out that the fact that the dogs had not sniffed the cocaine was no excuse for the two suitcases packed with cocaine to have left Guyana undetected.

The source pointed out that those manning the scanner should have detected that something was not right with the suitcases.

Former special constable Maurice Smith, one of the four persons charged with conspiracy to traffic in narcotics in the pink suitcase bust, in an affidavit to the court had stated that the dog Argon had never detected any cocaine at the airport. He had also said that the police had refused to give the dogs real cocaine to sniff, something he had learnt was necessary on a training course in the US.

However, the police in response to Smith had said during the training the dogs were exposed to cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, meth and heroin. The police said when Smith and the other dog handler returned they brought back with them a quantity of pseudo cocaine which is used for the purpose of training the dogs.

According to the police, in May 2006, Smith requested real cocaine for use in the training of the dogs and this was provided by the Officer-in-Charge of the Narcotics Branch along with a quantity of marijuana which was also requested.

The police had also said that over the years varying amounts of cocaine, pseudo cocaine and marijuana were made available to the Canine Section for training purposes with the last recorded date being September 21, 2009, when a quantity of marijuana was provided.

Efforts to contact Crime Chief Seelall Persaud and Commissioner of Police Henry Greene proved to be futile.

On June 2, a woman, Chandinee Segobind, checked in a suitcase filled with cocaine packed in Kerry Gold milk packets, which was not detected by Timehri airport security, the police or CANU.

The suitcase filled with cocaine left the Cheddi Jagan International Airport on a Delta flight and was intercepted at the John F Kennedy Airport in New York.

Last week CANU Head James Singh had said he was concerned about the recent bust following closely on the January pink suitcase bust of 50 pounds of cocaine. However, he said the police and CANU officers are involved in a “holistic investigation” looking at all angles, since something is seriously wrong.

Segobind was arrested in New York and according to authorities in the US, she said she was expected to receive payment for checking in the suitcase with some 18,428.2 grammes of cocaine.

According to court documents seen by this newspaper, on June 2 the woman arrived at the JFK airport on Delta Airlines Flight 384 from Georgetown, Guyana.

A black ‘Hays’ suitcase with a baggage tag in her name arrived on the same flight but was not retrieved by her.

Once the bag was not claimed it was taken to customs officers for inspection and they discovered some 18 powdered milk packages which were later tested positive as cocaine.

On June 8, investigators went to a residence on 82nd Street in Queens, New York where Segobind resides, identified themselves, and informed her that they were looking for her.

“The defendant agreed to speak with investigators. During the subsequent interview, the defendant stated, in sum and substance, ‘I checked in the bag. I knew that there were drugs in the bag.

I was supposed to get paid for doing this,’” authorities said. Segobind was then arrested and charged and she has since been remanded to prison.

On January 12, 50 pounds of cocaine were discovered in the US packed in a pink suitcase. Dorothy Sears had checked in the suitcase at the airport but she was arrested in New York on arrival there. Sears had admitted that she had checked in the pink suitcase and stated that she had been instructed by an individual in Guyana not to pick up the bag.

Four persons, Smith; Roderick Peterkin, an employee with Roraima Airways; along with CANU employees Muniram Persaud and Shemika Tennant, were charged with conspiracy on March 11 in relation to the case.

Three of the accused, Smith, Peterkin and Tennant have since accused Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack of malicious prosecution and have moved to the High Court to challenge the charges laid against them.