Photo/Illutration Currency sniffing dog Lilax during a demonstration at Narita Airport on Aug. 8 (Seiichi Kobayashi)

Japan is introducing sniffer dogs at its airports to prevent large amounts of undeclared cash from being moved out of the country.

The first dogs, a pair of Labrador Retrievers named Lilax and Tori, are already on duty at Narita Airport close to Tokyo.

They were deployed in early August with one mission: to detect wads of cash concealed in passengers’ luggage.

The “super elite” hounds are expected to play a critical role in battling money laundering, officials said. They were selected from pick of the crop drug-sniffing dogs that displayed an outstanding record at investigation scenes.

Finishing a specialized one-month training course in preparation for their debut, the pair of 6-year-old dogs took up their posts Aug. 8 at Tokyo Customs’ Narita Branch Customs.

Lilax and Tori screened more than 10 customs staff members posing as passengers during a demonstration at Narita Airport.

Just like drug-sniffing dogs, they are trained to sit down beside their handlers as soon as they detect bundles of cash.

“The relationship of trust between dogs and their handlers is important for the effectiveness of investigations,” stressed a senior customs official.

CONTRASTING PERSONALITIES

Both Lilax and Tori were raised in the drug detection dog training center of Tokyo Customs at the Sanrizuka Goryo Bokujo district in Narita, Chiba Prefecture.

They spent four years at airports in Japan to trace illegal drugs. Lilax and Tori uncovered stimulants and other illicit substances on five and four occasions, respectively.

Lilax and Tori were teamed with their current handlers at the training center after being selected for their aptitude as illegal currency sniffers from among 130 drug-sniffing hounds nurtured at the establishment. All drug detection dogs deployed to airports and other facilities throughout Japan undergo their training there.

The dogs have sharply contrasting personalities, said a representative of Narita Branch Customs.

Lilax “lives at her own pace so she can sniff calmly and carefully for investigations,” and Tori is “so friendly that she does not fear searching new places.”

The dogs are not expected to sniff out counterfeit banknotes.

The Finance Ministry’s Customs and Tariff Bureau emphasized that Lilax and Tori can identify newly designed banknotes along with old notes that are gradually being phased out.

However, the bureau declined to comment on the canines’ ability to handle foreign currencies, citing concerns that “disclosing such details could hinder our crackdown efforts.”

This indicates limitations to using dogs for foreign currency screening, given that they detect bills by smell like drug-sniffing dogs, according to customs insiders.

The ministry’s Customs and Tariff Bureau is looking to deploy currency sniffing dogs nationwide if Lilax and Tori prove to be effective in assisting in investigations at Narita Airport following a trial run.

SUCCESS OVERSEAS

Currency detection dogs have already performed well in the United States, Canada, Australia and elsewhere, officials said.

Although currency sniffing dogs at airports were an objective of the Finance Ministry, the prime motivation stemmed from a request from the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The FATF, which sets global standards for combating money laundering, called on Japan to strengthen its countermeasures after customs inspections failed to prevent eight inappropriate exports of cash suspected to be criminal proceeds in the last five years.

Kenji Ueda, head of the Tokyo Customs’ monitoring department, vowed to step up the crackdown.

“More passengers than usual show up in August,” he said. “We will be working closely with relevant organizations to bolster surveillance.”

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