A Colombian sniffer dog now has a drug gang's $70,000 price tag on its head after helping authorities make 245 arrests over the past few years, according to The Telegraph.
Sombra, meaning "shadow" in English, is a German Shepherd that has been an effective weapon in helping authorities in the Turbo in Colombia's Uraba region track down drugs, The Telegraph reported. Uraba is described as a strategic transport area for drug traffickers with ready access to the sea.
Earlier this year Sombra was redeployed from the Urabeños heartland to the Bogotá's El Dorado Airport and is now considered outside the area of the gang's influence.
The BBC News wrote that intelligence sources said the Urabeños drugs gang, considered Colombia's most powerful criminal organization, has put a 200-million peso bounty on the dog, which equals roughly $70,000.
The 6-year-old dog had sniffed out 5.3 tons of cocaine in Turbo recently and another four tons of the drug hidden in car parts for export, which probably drew the ire of drug dealers.
The BBC News said it is common for Urabeños to offer money to get rid of those it believes are interfering with their trafficking organization. Experts told the BBC News that the amount on Sombra's head could be indicative of the financial losses the dog has caused them.
According to the website Insight Crime, Urabeños emerged from the aftermath of Colombia's paramilitary movement to become the dominant criminal force in the country. The website wrote in March, though, that the organization's national network had been weakening and could be on the verge of splintering into independent factions.
Dairo Antonio Úsuga, the leader of the Urabeños, also known as "Otoniel," is one of Colombia's most wanted criminals, Newsweek reported. The cartel, also known as the Úsuga clan or Gulf clan, controls a major portion of the country's drug trafficking trade.
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