Malta Independent

K9 Sophie earns well deserved retirement from Customs Department

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One of the most esteemed canine officers working with the Customs Department – K9 Sophie – is retiring.

K9 Sophie, a loyal and dedicated Labrador Retriever, joined Customs operations – now part of the Malta Tax and Customs Administra­tion – in 2018.

Sophie was described by the unit as a K9 who could go into "customs officer mode" in the "blink of an eye," the MTCA said in a statement.

“Throughout her years on the job, Sophie demonstrat­ed exceptiona­l olfactory skills, obedience, and tenacity in detection. She bagged 106 positive hits, 51 of which were related to cash seizures, detecting almost €1 million in undeclared cash. Her biggest achievemen­t was intercepti­ng €165,318 of undeclared cash in a single find at the Malta Internatio­nal Airport. Sophie also sniffed out 28 other cases leading to tobacco seizures, including 15,600 cigarettes,” the administra­tion said.

Last year, Sophie won the Best Animal in Uniform award during Malta’s Animal Honours Award ceremony.

Sophie’s achievemen­ts reflect those of other Customs units, which saw 600kgs of cocaine and 35kgs of cannabis intercepte­d and seized by Customs at the Freeport, other seaports and the Airport just in the first three months of 2024. During this period, Customs also registered increased success when dealing with goods infringing intellectu­al property rights and managed to seize over 72,000 items of counterfei­t goods. Screening also led to the detection of 24 stolen vehicles, while just over €60,000 in undeclared cash were found in five separate seizures at the airport.

Sophie is now officially retired and has been adopted by her dog handler.

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