You’ll see them working at airports, ports, on ships, at warehouses and alongside NZ Police. They can help to find large amounts of undeclared cash which helps protect our country from potential criminal activities such as money laundering and terrorism funding. This is carried out under New Zealand's Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act.
As well as cash, the dogs are trained to detect drugs and firearms.
Our work with NZ Police and Customs
When it comes to finding hidden money, it’s all about the smell. Even though New Zealand’s banknotes are made of a type of tough plastic called polymer, they have a distinct smell that the dogs are trained to instantly recognise.
To help these dogs learn the scent of cash, we have loaned NZ Police and Customs some real banknotes and bags of old shredded banknotes. Shredded banknotes and whole banknotes smell the same to cash-detecting dogs.
