July 20, 2022 |
Last week the Wyoming Highway Patrol trained their first Narcotic Detection K-9 to detect the odor of fentanyl. A deadly narcotic that incapacitates users who fall into sleepy stupors, is cheap and widely available from big cities to small towns across the USA.
Much of it is being transported across the wide open southern border. Fentanyl has been linked to a significant increase in fatal overdoses throughout the United States, including Wyoming.
Pictured above: Screenshot from a video of Wyoming Highway Patrol training their first Narcotic Detection K-9 to detect the odor of Fentanyl. Courtesy WHP.
That was Senator John Barrasso in Wyoming during a visit to the Texas border with Mexico where the drug, much of it produced in China, is being smuggled into the country.
Interstate 80 across Wyoming is part of the pipeline for drug traffickers. Sgt. Jeremy Beck with the Wyoming Highway Patrol said the new K-9 team are designed to combat the growing problem.
Fentanyl is dangerous to users and to law enforcement officers who come in contact with the drug during arrests and seizures. It can cause serious breathing problems and death even in small doses.
Sgt. Beck said the handler and the K-9 take necessary precautions when training around the drug. With the training successfully completed the K-9 narcotics team are putting their new skill to work.
Sgt. Beck said the Wyoming Highway Patrol is one of the few agencies in the country to have a fentanyl trained K-9.
