Criminal gangs put £25,000 bounty on successful sniffer dog

Scamp the springer spaniel has been so effective in finding drugs and illegal tobacco in Sussex and other parts of the South East that criminals are now offering £25,000 for someone to stop him.

The Trading Standards services of seven local authorities, including West Sussex County Council, joined forces to crack down on illegal tobacco operations.

With the help of Scamp, they seized nearly £250,000 worth of counterfeit tobacco products, class A drugs and cannabis.

The project uncovered 429,700 cigarettes and 189kg of hand rolling tobacco as well large amounts of class A drugs and cannabis.

Evidence of a potential tobacco packaging factory was also discovered.

Scamp was at work in Sussex in November.

Richard Sargeant,Trading standards team manager at West Sussex County Council, said: “We use dogs from a company called BWY Canine and Scamp is one of them.

“Fake tobacco is a big problem and the people responsible are often linked to gangs and organised crime.”

Mr Sargeant said that the help of Scamp and other sniffer dogs was pivotal in uncovering this illegal behaviour.

He said: “The criminals always hide their products in places we could never find, under floors and in walls and ceilings. The dogs are massively helpful in finding these.”

In November 2017, Scamp also helped Trading Standards officers uncover 185 tobacco pouches and 231 cigarette packets hidden within a wall in a shop in Worthing.

Officers said the scheme had been highly successful in targeting the fake tobacco industry.

Now Trading Standards says criminal gangs have “placed a £25,000 price on Scamp’s head” because he is so effective at his job.

Chief executive at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute Leon Livermore said: “Joint operations as we can see here highlight the versatility of Trading Standards services in the South East of England who have a track record of working together efficiently to achieve more and make use of the limited resource allocated.”