The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) opened Wednesday, Feb. 16, its K9 Team Leaders’ Course in simple rites at its national headquarters in Quezon City.
Participating were 17 handlers and their Narcotics Detection Dogs (NDDs).
In a statement, PDEA disclosed that the participants will undergo the course which includes subjects such as Supervising K9 Operations, Illegal drugs Smuggling, Legalities Related to K9 operations, and Inter-Government Cooperation.
“This course is designed to simulate real-life settings and situations in jail facilities, airports and seaports. It (the training) will strengthen the bond between man and partner dog and create confident and abled K9 team leaders,” PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva said.
“The course will be conducted in the PDEA K9 Headquarters in Sitio Lambakin, Barangay Sto. Cristo, City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. The K9 Headquarters trained and equipped the current 183 K9 Handlers and 116 NDDs fielded by PDEA in seaports, airports, and other critical facilities all over the country,’’ he added.
The K9 teams are extensively used in anti-drug operations such as cargo and parcel searches, events monitoring and in search and seizure operations in jails and custodial facilities.
“The PDEA K9 Team Leaders’ Course is the next step in our effort to further professionalize the systems pertinent to the operation of our K9 resources. This would bolster the monitoring and interdiction capabilities in the country’s airports and seaport”, Villanueva noted.
In Oct. 2021, 64 K9 handler-trainees, together with their partner NDDs, belonging to K9 Handler’s Basic Course 2021-05, Class “Magiting, successfully concluded their six-month rigorous training at the PDEA K9 Headquarters in Bulacan. (Chito A. Chavez)