Trooper K-9 ‘detection academy’ graduates more members

After completing a six-week Alaska State Trooper K-9 Detector Academy, five K-9 teams are now certified for drug detection work across the state.

At a May 26 graduation ceremony in Anchorage, K-9 MOCHA and his partner, Investigator Joel Miner of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency out of Anchorage, joined K-9 Misty and her partner, AST Ketchikan Drug Enforcement Unit Investigator Larry Dur’an.

Equipping communities around the state with drug dogs is part of Gov. Bill Walker’s Safer Alaska initiative. Troopers will now have six certified dog teams in drug detection, three detector only dogs and three dual-purpose (detector and patrol). Alaska Department of Corrections will have one detector dog team.

According to Tim DeSpain, AST public information officer, the certification process is considered one of the most difficult in the world due to the number of searches along with use of sight, smells, sound and situations in the search areas. The handlers completed a comprehensive final exam to test their knowledge of dog psychology, training philosophy and detection handling. The dogs ranged in age and experience from brand new, untrained dogs to past certified dogs.

Both MOCHA and Misty were certified on April 6. Their partners received canine instructor certification as part of the academy training. Miner and MOCHA have conducted 15 searches over the past approximate two months netting seizures of 87.6 grams of heroin, 470.6 grams of cocaine, 3,820.53 grams of methamphetamine, $42,342 in cash, three guns, 150 oxycodone pills, eight grams of psilocybin mushrooms and one gram of LSD.

K9 Misty was out of commission a short period of time recovering from spay surgery following conclusion of the the first academy academy. To date, she and her handler had the opportunity to conduct one search with a seizure of $10,000 in cash and a small amount of controlled substance.

The two teams join Investigator Andrew Ballesteros and K9 Mak MatSu SDEU, Trooper Daron Cooper and K9 Blazer MatSu Patrol, Trooper Andy Deveaux and K9 Skippy MatSu Patrol, Trooper Christine Joslin and K9 Scout Fairbanks Patrol, and Officer Joshua Wood and K9 Koda - Department of Corrections.