You can't pull the wool over Roxy

CAMERON BURNELL/ Taranaki Daily News

SNIFF TEST: Roxy the drug dog and her handler, Mark Kilmister, check out prisoners' property for contraband at the New Plymouth Prison.

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Roxy the staffordshire labrador cross' ability to do her job is nothing to be sniffed at.

The Department of Corrections drug dog and her handler Mark Kilmister yesterday searched New Plymouth Prison for drugs.

With the ability to pick up the scent of illegal contraband in parts per trillion there's not much that escapes Roxy's super-sensitive nose.

"Depending on the conditions she can pick up the scent from 100m and source it back to where it is," Mr Kilmister said.

While Roxy did not find anything yesterday, she recently discovered cannabis tightly-packaged in plastic wrap and hidden in the sole of a pair of shoes.

Roxy is trained to search for cannabis, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, methamphetamine and has even found a stash of LSD, a drug many believe has no odour.

Even when criminals have gone to long lengths to disguise the smell of drugs by hiding them inside tins of varnish, glue and deodorant it's not enough to put Roxy off the scent.

Mr Kilmister rescued Roxy from the Rotorua pound five years ago.

Prison manager Peter Madsen said drug dogs were used frequently to check property dropped off for prisoners, vehicles, targeted areas and targeted prisoners.

"It is absolutely incredible the lengths people go to get stuff in," Mr Madsen said.

- © Fairfax NZ News