A South African-based civil rights organisation AfriForum has launched a border patrol initiative with sniffer dogs at the porous South Africa-Zimbabwe border in the Musina area, Limpopo.
The move is meant to curb illegal immigration and smuggling along the porous Musina-Pafuri borderline.
AfriForum campaigns manager Jacques Broodryk said two sniffer dogs, Duke and Hailey, have since been donated and were also trained trackers. Said Broodryk:
The smugglers use the areas with dense bushes to cross the border and these sniffer dogs will assist to quickly get on the trail of the smugglers.
Duke (the dog) will also help law enforcement during roadblocks because of his specific skills to sniff out firearms and drugs.
Between June and September of last year alone, AfriForum’s neighbourhood watch in Musina helped to seize smuggled goods with a total value of more than R12 million.
This has a substantial impact on the illegal activities and according to information we have received, some of these smugglers have thrown in the towel because of the resilience of our volunteers.