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Died 6/13/23
Handler – Officer Alejandro Gutiérrez
Five-year-old Belgian Shepherd ‘Kenia’ dies from poisoning after helping police seize tainted cocaine shipment at Colombian port
A Colombian sniffer dog was honored after she died from ingesting poison that was mixed with a cocaine shipment that was recently seized. Kenia, a five-year-old Belgian Shepherd, was in the middle of an operation with the Colombian National Police’s narcotics agents and led her handler Alejandro Gutiérrez to a shipment that contained kernel bags at a port in the Caribbean Sea city of Santa Marta on June 13.The dog searched through the shipment and detected the presence of drugs and then returned to the police base inside the port where she fell ill and died shortly after.A second trained dog who also participated in the mission was found sick after coming into contact with the poisoned drugs but survived.The narcotics police department said that investigators are still analyzing the substances to determined which one caused Kenia’s death.Kenia was born at the police academy dog breeding grounds in central province of Cundinamarca on June 5, 2018.She graduated from the K-9 academy, where she underwent training to detect drugs, and was then assigned to National Police narcotics agency at the port in Santa Marta on May 27, 2019.Kenia helped authorities confiscate more than 12 tons of cocaine during her time in service. ‘With honors, we said goodbye to ‘Kenia’ in the Port of Santa Marta, a little dog who gave up her life fighting against drug trafficking during the inspection of a merchandise that was contaminated with cocaine and other highly toxic substances that would have caused her death,’ the National Police said.Kenia’s ceremony was held Wednesday, the same day the Colombian military announced it had halted the search for Wilson, a two-year-old Belgian Shepherd who on May 18 fled from the side of a special forces unit she accompanied while looking for the four children who survived a plane crash that killed three adults, including their 34-year-old mother.The K-9’s pawprints were vital in leading soldiers to the June miracle discovery of Lesly Jacombaire Mucutuy, 13, Soleiny Jacombaire Mucutuy, nine, Tien Noriel Ronoque Mucutuy, four, and one-year-old Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutuy after they spent 40 days wandering through the Amazon jungle.Authorities have been on heightened alert since last week when reports surfaced that drug traffickers had issued a death threat against Killer, a nine-year-old Labrador Retriever, who has helped the military seize more than 1.5 million doses of marijuana during her seven years of service.Since then, the sniffer dog has received protection 24 hours a day and is kept inside a cage under the watch of an armed soldier.
