Dog detects more than 30 pounds of opium

A federal drug-sniffing dog named Shadow earned his keep and then some on Monday at O’Hare Airport, when he helped discover more than 30 pounds of opium worth nearly $500,000, officials said.

A member of the Customs and Border Patrol team at O’Hare’s international mail facility, “Shadow is an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois whose nose definitely knows how to ferret out hidden drugs in imported cargo and mail,” William Ferrara, CBP’s acting director of field operations, said in a statement.

At 2:30 p.m. Monday, Shadow alerted agents to a parcel from Laos heading to Wisconsin, the invoice for which read “Hmong Dresses,” officials said. But 38 pieces of decorative cloth were found to be saturated in opium, more than 15 pounds in all with a value estimated at $238,682.

Around 5:30 p.m., the dog examined another parcel from Laos, this one bound for Minnesota, with its contents undeclared, officials said. Inside were 10 pieces of cloth wrapped in plastic, which also tested positive for opium. With a combined weight of 4.84 pounds, they were valued at $76,707.

And just 10 minutes later at 5:40 p.m., Shadow pointed out a third parcel from Laos, manifested to contain “Traditional Medicines” and bound for Wisconsin, officials said. While some might call it traditional medicine, agents actually found 38 small plastic bags of woodchips and leaves, soaked in about 6.16 pounds of opium, valued at $97,628.

Shadow waited just 10 more minutes to alert to another package, finding $76,707 worth of drugs — helping curtail about $489,724 worth of opium from reaching its intended destinations.