CBP Officers Steve Goldfarb and Jacqueline Yocupicio, and her canine “Trouble,” represented the agency at the Czech Republic’s 8th Annual International Championship of Customs Drug Searching Dogs held May 23 – 29. In 2004, Yocupicio and Trouble were part of the team that took the first-place trophy for “Top Agency Narcotic Detection” in the 16th annual detector dog competition held by the Tucson, Ariz., Police Department.

Photo Credit: Steven Goldfarb

CBP officers Goldfarb and Yocupicio receive awards from Mr. Zdenek Richtr, Director General, Czech Customs and Administration and Ms. Yvona Legierska, Deputy Finance Minister, Czech Republic. The awards ceremony was held in the town square of Frýdlant.

The invitation to attend the Czech championship marked the first time a team from outside Europe had been invited to compete. It was also the first time CBP entered an international detector dog competition.

“On behalf of the Czech Customs Administration, I would like to say that we were very pleased meeting them both and that they represented the U.S. Customs and Border Protection extremely well,” said Jan Hlinka, program manager of the Czech Customs Administration Headquarters. “We hope that they can come back again next year to compete and exchange experiences with our canine unit, which is so valuable in our mutual effort to combat illegal drugs and weapons.”

Rigorous competition

The aim of the championship, according to the competition outline, was to present the canine service as “one of the most effective methods in the fight against the illegal distribution of narcotic and psychotropic substances, and in the fight against organized crime and international terrorism.”

The competition consisted of two parts: sniffing work and obedience. While the obedience portion was relatively straightforward, the sniffing portion was composed of some rigorous and detailed tasks. These included searching for:

• Five grams of marijuana in a bus in less than 12 minutes.
• Ten grams of cocaine in train carriages in less than 10 minutes.
• Ten grams of heroin in a truck in less than 12 minutes.
• Five grams of amphetamine in a personal vehicle in less than 12 minutes.
• Ten grams of heroin in rooms in less than 10 minutes.
• Five grams of hashish in luggage in less than 3 minutes.

Nineteen teams, each consisting of two canines and their handlers, participated, including: 10 from within the Czech Republic, one each from the United States, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia, Norway, and Austria. Great Britain, Germany and Israel attended as observers.

After the competition, the CBP team traveled to the town of Frýdlant, at the request of the director of the Czech canine program, for a joint U.S.-Czech anti-drug canine demonstration for area students.

That afternoon, the awards ceremony was held in the town square where the winners of each event, individual and team, were presented their awards. The winning team was from Ceske Budejovice in South Czech, the city where Budweiser beer originated.

Two-way diplomacy

Czech canine center officials treated Goldfarb and Yocupicio to tours of historical buildings such as the Frýdlant Castle, Basilica Hejnice and its crypts and other buildings of importance.

They also got a taste of the Czech culture. Traditional dancers, local music academy performers and the Czech National Police Band entertained the competition attendees.

Later this year, the Czech canine officers are hoping to travel to the U. S. for a taste of American culture and a tour of CBP’s canine facilities.

In addition to being the first non-Eastern European team to attend the Czech competition, Goldfarb and Yocupicio were the first Americans that many of the attendees had ever met. Hopefully the visit this year by the CBP team and next year’s return visit will continue to build positive relationships between Europeans and Americans. EC

Highlights of the competition Tuesday, May 24 CBP Officer Yocupicio recited the oath of sportsmanship for the competitors and the competition began. The first competition was room and luggage searches. Yocupicio and Trouble had to locate 10 grams of heroin in a classroom in less than 10 minutes receiving 85 points out of 100. The luggage search consisted of locating five grams of hashish in a row of luggage in less than three minutes and netted 98 points. Wednesday, May 25 In the obedience competition, Yocupicio and Trouble scored 40 points. CBP canines do not receive obedience training and the team had 30 days to learn obedience work. CBPO Yocupicio scored the highest in the “female officer” category defeating the overall European Champion of 2004. Yocupicio also received a certificate for sportsmanship. The judges were impressed that, although the team is not formally trained in obedience, Yocupicio was willing to attempt the event and competed so well. The next competition consisted of finding 10 grams of heroin hidden in one of two trucks in less than 12 minutes. Out of 31 teams, 21 failed to score any points in this competition, including the CBP team. The third competition had the teams searching two cars to locate five grams of methamphetamine in less than 12 minutes. There is a chemical difference between U.S. and the Czech methamphetamines. CBP also trains with larger quantities produced by CBP Laboratory Services while the Czech use small amounts obtained from seized narcotics. Yocupicio and Trouble scored no points because search time expired. Thursday, May 26 The first competition involved searches of railway coaches, locating 10 grams of cocaine in less than 10 minutes. Yocupicio and Trouble scored 95 points. The teams then traveled to the Liberec bus terminal to locate five grams of marijuana hidden in a passenger bus in less than 12 minutes. Yocupicio and Trouble scored 91 points and found the training aid in less than one minute. CBP Officer Yocupicio and Trouble ended the competition with a total of 409 points out of 600. This is a greater accomplishment than it seems. The scores of the other countries came from the combined hard work of two canine teams. The United States had only one team—Yocupicio and Trouble. Great job! We can’t wait to see what they do next year.