Sandia loaned the South Texas Specialized Crimes and Narcotics Task Force one of its prototype Hound systems in November 2003 as part of a field trial to evaluate the system for drug detection. Since then Task Force officers have used the Hound system at border checkpoints to help screen vehicles for narcotics and drug money.
Task Force officials say its officers have on numerous occasions used the Hound system to help local, state, and federal law enforcement officers detect covert narcotics shipments in vehicles at checkpoints; locate nitro, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana in middle schools and high schools; seize drug money going south into Mexico; and build a case against a suspect in a night club shooting.
In a few cases the officers credit the device with saving lives.
"There are not enough good things I can say about this tool," says Task Force Commander Jaime Garza.
The field trials are made possible through funding from the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice and its National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC). Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory.
Toolbox-Sized System
The toolbox-sized Hound system includes a front-end sniffer developed by Sandia for sample collection and a commercial chemical detector that works for both explosives and drugs.The Hound system is sensitive enough to detect and identify residues in the fingerprints drug users leave behind on door handles, steering wheels, locker latches, etc.
During the field trials in South Texas, the Task Force has used the Hound system as part of border checkpoint screening procedures, using both drug-trained dogs and the Sandia sniffers to canvass a selection of vehicles that were diverted by officers into a secondary screening area, says Garza.
Tool Helps Officers
Task Force officers also respond to requests from the local sheriff's department and U.S. Border Patrol agents to investigate suspicious vehicles and items, he says."It was truly an eye-opening experience to learn about the magnitude of the drug problem that is happening every day along the border," says Dave Hannum, one of the Sandia developers. "One Hound system cannot even put a dent in that drug pipeline. However, it is a tool that can clearly help officers detect and correctly identify certain illegal substances that they have to deal with on a daily basis."
Hannum said the information gathered during the trials is being used to improve the Hound system for drug detection applications. Commercialization efforts are underway.
