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Each day, you hear reports about drugs being seized and in many of these cases there is a critical resource that sometimes stays under the radar.

Customs and Border Protection report gave Action 4 News a sneak peak at exactly who is working to interdict narcotics, locating concealed humans and other illicit contraband attempting to enter the country.

“Before I joined the patrol, I worked for a CPA and I was just ready for something outdoors and something more challenging,” said Elizabeth Gold a Border Patrol Agent.

Gold was paired with a canine whose got six years in and is responsible for taking more than one-hundred-eleven million dollars worth of drugs off the street.

There is nothing more rewarding for a Border Patrol Canine Handler than stats like that she said.

“You know, you’re wanting to look for the dope, she’s wanting to find it and that just creates a great union right there,” said Gold.  “As far as the other canine teams you know whoever catches the dope, as long as we get it off the street, that’s what’s important.”

It’s a sentiment shared by most handlers, especially on days when your canine alerts and indicates to an all too familiar situation where undocumented immigrants are hiding in vehicles, trucks, buses and even cargo 

“He’s a great partner, every day we come to work and he’s ready to work,” said Eric Rubio a Border Patrol Agent also working with a K-9.  “Anytime I go get him out of the kennel and he sees me in uniform, he knows we are going to go to the checkpoint and work.”

CBP canine teams working the checkpoint have become one of the best tools available to detect and seize controlled substances and other contraband, often used to finance criminal drug trafficking organizations. But the decision to work side by side with a canine is a major undertaking.

David Morales a Special Operations Supervisor pointed out these K-9 agents have  the  responsibility of taking care of the dog first, “ it’s like having another child.”

CBP canine teams also assist local law enforcement agencies upon request. 

Nationwide, CBP has approximately 13-hundred canine teams working  in the RGV-Sector there are more than 100 teams.

The duties of a K-9 team include: checkpoint operations, freight train and yard searches, building searches, searches in support of other law enforcement agencies, and search and rescue for lost or trapped persons.