Labrador retriever picked as S. Korea's best sniff dog

SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's customs agency said Wednesday that it has selected a Labrador retriever as the best sniff dog for the first half of this year in recognition of its great help in cracking down on drug trafficking attempts.
Born in 2003, the retriever named Robin was deployed at the Incheon International Airport, the nation's main gateway west of Seoul, in 2005 to help customs workers prevent narcotics and explosives from entering the country.
"Robin has helped spot a total of 331 grams of narcotics worth 300 million won (US$283,822) in 11 crackdowns since 2005," the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said in a press release.
"The latest crackdown was on April 23 of this year was when it spotted 7.59 grams of cocaine hidden in a piece of international mail," it added.
Robin will be inducted into the "canine hall of fame" and its handler Cha Jong-gyun will also receive a commendation from the head of the customs agency.
The KCS currently has a total of 64 drug sniffing dogs, of which the agency placed 31 at the nation's major seaports and airports including the Incheon International Airport.
The customs agency has granted the award for best-performing detection dogs since last year. This year's award is the third of its kind, it added.