Colombian cartel puts price on drug-sniffing pooch

Sombra, the drugsniffing police dog, is famous in Colombia

Like a cocaine-fueled Homeric epic, Colombia’s long tragic battle with the drug cartels has produced countless heroes and villains. But one figure cutting across the country’s current narco battlefield, a name drawing praise and hate alike, is actually a 6-year-old German Shepard you can find trotting through the country’s airports.

Sombra — “Shadow” in English — is a drug detection dog with the Colombian National Police. Over the last few years, her radar nose has led to more than 200 arrests and the seizure of at least 9 tons of illicit drugs. That success has turned the dog into something of a folk hero in a country consumed by ongoing bloodshed piled on top of a long legacy of drug violence. The Colombian media has even dubbed Sombra “the terror” of drug traffickers.

But Sombra is so good at her job that Colombia’s dominant drug crew is retaliating. They’ve put a price on the dog’s head.

According to Colombia’s RCN Radio, police intelligence recently learned about the bounty set by the Urabeños, also known as the “Gulf Clan.” Reports vary on the price tag for killing the dog, between about

$7,000 and $70,000. But the threat is serious enough for the national police to take extra precautions for Sombra’s security.

“The fact they want to hurt Sombra and offer such a high reward shows the impact she’s had on their profits,” a police spokesperson told the Telegraph.

Sombra came to Colombian law enforcement from a kennel in Antioquia, the region of the country that’s home to Medellín, the springboard for Colombia’s fearsome cartels of the 1980s and 1990s. The dog is tasked with thrusting her trained snout into luggage and packages in Colombia’s ports and airports.

RCN Radio reports her first major bust was in March 2016,

when Sombra nosed her way toward a container of banana boxes that secretly held 2,958 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride.

In May 2017, Sombra discovered a shipment containing 1.1 tons of cocaine. She then led police to 5.3 tons of cocaine. Later, she discovered 4 tons hidden in an auto parts shipment. In total, her busts have resulted in 245 arrests.

In response to the bounty on Sombra’s life, Gen. Jorge Nieto, head of the national police, has ordered the dog transferred to Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport.Additional officers will now accompany Sombra on her rounds.

FERNANDO VERGARA/ASSOCIATED PRESS Drug dog Sombra has helped detect more than 2,000 kilos of cocaine. She sits outside the police station Thursday in Bogota, Colombia. Colombian police revealed that the Gulf Clan, a cartel that boasts its own guerrilla army, has offered a reward to whoever kills Sombra.