The best police dog ever? A German Shepherd has helped put almost 250 traffickers behind bars
Sombra was so effective at sniffing out narcotics and upsetting trafficking operations that one of the drug cartels put out a $70,000 bounty on her head.
Proper to her name, Sombra cast an outsized shadow over drug cartels while in service of the Colombian police force’s anti-narcotics division. The German shepherd took part in hundreds of operations that helped disrupt drug trafficking operations in the South American country and put nearly 250 criminals behind bars.
Sombra was so effective, that one of the most powerful drug cartels put a bounty on her head. That lead to her being transferred to a safer location at the Bogota airport, where she continued to sniff out more drugs throughout her career.
Sombra showed exceptional talent for finding drugs at an early age
Sombra, Spanish for shadow, joined the anti-narcotics division as a puppy, and even during her early days in training showed an exceptional talent at finding hidden drugs. By the time she was six in 2018, the canine’s sharp nose had led to the seizure of almost ten tons of cocaine and the arrest of 245 suspects.
Her anti-narcotics work made her the “torment” of Dairo Antonio Úsuga, also known as Otoniel, the leader of the most powerful drug cartel in Colombia, the Urabeños. The criminal organization put out a bounty of 200 million Colombian pesos, roughly $70,000, to have Sombra killed.
That sum was larger than what was offered for hits on her human colleagues in the police force. That led authorities to transfer her from the port city of Turbo in northern Colombia to El Dorado International Airport in Bogota.
Sombra lived out the rest of her career working at the airport, making major discoveries of narcotics there as well. But her job wasn’t all sniffing out drugs.
In order to help relive the stress of her drug sniffing duties, her handlers would take her for walks around the airport where people old and young would stop to take pictures with the canine celebrity.
“Sombra is a really friendly, very calm dog,” Oscar Favian Solarte, head of the anti-narcotics division, told El Tiempo. “She has no problem being around kids and people that want to say ‘hi’ to her.”
“She’s playful. In fact, during training this is part of carrying out her job — not just finding the staches of illicit drugs. It’s also taking time at work to unwind," he added.
Sombra served for two more years in the anti-narcotics division before retiring. There are stories that when she passed, even cartel members sent flowers and messages of respect.
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