A routine inspection by a drug-sniffing dog on Wednesday at Dulles International Airport turned up a large stash of cocaine -- 18 pounds, 3.5 ounces to be exact.
Rex the Customs and Border Protection K9 picked up the scent in the cargo hold of a commercial plane from Bogota, Columbia. His hit led to officers recovering seven taped packages behind a cargo hold panel.
The packages had a street value of about $580,000. Sounds like Rex will be getting some extra Beggin' Strips in his paycheck this week...
Federal officials continue to investigate who placed the cocaine on the plane.
"Nefarious narcotics organizations continue to leverage all means to smuggle their deadly poison to the United States, even placing narcotics aboard unsuspecting commercial aircraft," said Christopher Hess, CBP Port Director for the Port of Washington, D.C. “Customs and Border Protection officers remain committed to intercepting these smuggling attempts through the use of detector dogs and routine compliance inspections on international aircraft, particularly those arriving from narcotics source nations.”