Chandigarh, Aug 2 (PTI) In the campaign to make Haryana drug-free, trained sniffer dogs are proving to be one of the most lethal assets for law enforcement agencies.
In the first half of 2026 (January 1 to June 30), joint teams of the Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau (HSNCB) and district police, operating through targeted raid and search operations, used sniffer dogs to crack 48 cases and seize large consignments of smack, cannabis, charas, opium, some quantity of heroin and other narcotic substances, officials said on Sunday.
Among the stars of the dog squad is Bolt, who leads the pack with 15 successful cases, followed closely by Rambo with 14 and Romeo with 12 cases, they said.
Rambo’s most spectacular contribution was facilitating the single largest seizure — over 5.50 quintals of ‘doda post’ (poppy husk).
The extraordinary olfactory precision of these three dogs and their seamless coordination with their handlers have given Haryana Police’s anti-drug operations a formidable new edge.
Haryana Director General of Police Ajay Singhal said drug trafficking poses a grave threat to society and to the future of the state’s youth in particular.
“Acting on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini’s clear directives, Haryana Police continues to crack down on this menace with an unwavering policy of zero tolerance,” the DGP said.
He said the force’s trained sniffer dogs and their handlers are a critical link in this chain. Their rigorous modern training and tight operational coordination with police teams have proven consistently decisive in tracking down narcotics and reaching the networks behind them.
Across all these operations, trained sniffer dogs — Bolt, Rambo, Romeo, Jagga, Jack, Sheru, Tom, Bruno, Jimmy, Raja, Jesifer, Max, Mahi and Charlie — deployed their extraordinary capability to pinpoint narcotics hidden with great ingenuity in vehicles, buildings, warehouses and other locations, repeatedly turning intelligence leads into successful arrests and seizures, the officials said.
The DGP emphasised that through the intelligent combination of modern technology, actionable intelligence and specialist resources, Haryana Police is steadily dismantling the entire architecture of drug trafficking in the state.
Every sniffer dog and handler inducted into Haryana Police’s Dog Squad undergoes specialised training rooted in modern scientific methodology.
The curriculum covers the identification of various categories of narcotic substances, systematic search of suspected locations, preservation of evidence and disciplined operational conduct in the field. Upon completing training, dogs and handlers are deployed across the state as operational requirements demand.
Additional Director General of Police, Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau, Sanjay Kumar, said the effectiveness of the dog squad speaks for itself.
Year after year, trained sniffer dogs have been instrumental in cracking a substantial number of NDPS cases that might otherwise have gone undetected.
On receiving specific intelligence, police teams deploy immediately with the dog squad to the locations — be it a vehicle, residence, warehouse, agricultural field or any other site — where the sniffer dogs locate narcotics with a speed and accuracy that human search alone cannot match.
In several cases, their leads have enabled investigators to unravel entire trafficking networks.
The first six months of 2026 saw a series of significant seizures assisted by sniffer dogs involving chitta, smack, cannabis, charas, doda post, chura post, opium and other substances, he said.
These successful missions were conducted jointly by police teams from Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa (Dabwali), Gurugram, Faridabad, Bhiwani, Kurukshetra, Hisar GRP and several other districts, in close collaboration with HSNCB teams, he said.
The Hisar Dog Squad Unit delivered the finest overall performance of any unit in the first half of 2026. Bolt, the unit’s lead sniffer dog, participated in the highest number of raid and search operations, contributing decisively to 15 NDPS cases.
Rambo played a pivotal role in 14 cases, including the period’s single largest seizure of over 5.5 quintals of doda post, while Romeo made significant contributions across 12 NDPS operations, aiding in the recovery of chitta, cannabis and other substances, the officials said.
Behind the numbers, equally vital was the dedication of the dog handlers themselves.
Constables Anil, Sunil, Reet, Pradeep, Vikas and Ravinder built outstanding operational synergy with their respective sniffer dogs, enabling teams to detect narcotics hidden with the most sophisticated concealment techniques employed by traffickers, they said.
The DGP also urged citizens to share any information related to drug trafficking immediately on the helpline number 9050891508, so that the resolve of a drug-free Haryana can be realised through genuine public participation. PTI SUN RT RT
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