Dogs to sniff out euro, dollar smuggling in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES: Three hundred specially trained dogs have been deployed to several border-crossing outposts throughout Argentina in order to sniff out dollars concealed in luggage. The move is one more measure put in place by the National Government in an effort to stop a massive currency flight from the country.

The Government is trying to stop the local savers and investors who last month withdrew over 3 billion dollars from their bank accounts from taking their money abroad.

Last Monday, trained dogs detected $30,000 concealed inside the spare tire of a BMW as its driver prepared to cross over to Uruguay, a local newspaper said today.

The measure, which will be intensified during the summer months, was put into place in June and was given a trial period of six months, during which 1.5 million undeclared dollars were detected by dogs.

The Border Patrol will be paying special attention to border crossings with Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.

The golden retrievers and Labradors are specially-trained to identify the smell of dollars and Euros.

Soon they will be joined by a several flat coated retrievers that the AFIP tax agency bought from the Norwegian government and sent to Tandil in order for them to breed.