A nose for trouble: LAPD K9 finds heroin, fentanyl and a rifle hidden in vending machine

Richard Winton
·2 min read
54
The items recovered during the search of the soda machine including 15 pounds of heroin, a kilogram of fentanyl and an assault rifle.
Items recovered during the search of a soda vending machine flagged by an LAPD canine included 15 pounds of heroin, a kilogram of fentanyl and an assault-style rifle, police said. (Los Angeles Police Department)

He is relatively new on the job at the Los Angeles Police Department, but Bosco, a 2-year-old Dutch shepherd, has a nose for trouble.

The narcotics detection canine sniffed out the secret held inside a soda vending machine at a downtown L.A. repair garage — it contained a large stash of heroin, fentanyl and an assault rifle, police said.

"There was a lot more than Coke in that soda machine," said LAPD Capt. Lillian Carranza, who oversees the Gang and Narcotics Division, which includes several K9 officers.

A split image of a soda vending machine at left and a dog posing for a photo at right.
The soda machine in a downtown Los Angeles repair garage where the drugs and assault rifle were found by Bosco, a 2-year-old Dutch shepherd who has worked with LAPD narcotics investigators for six months. (Los Angeles Police Department)

Ventura County Sheriff's Department investigators were conducting a search warrant Friday at the undisclosed garage location in central Los Angeles and requested LAPD assistance with one of its canines, Carranza said.

Bosco, with six months' experience on the job, entered the garage and keyed in on the soda machine. From the outside, it looked like any other in businesses across L.A., but investigators opened up the machine and found 15 pounds of heroin, a kilogram of fentanyl and an assault-style rifle concealed inside, according to Carranza.

"Bosco is amazing. This is his third deployment. He is finding everything," said Carranza, who often posts images of her division's canine standouts on social media. "When regular officers cannot find anything, he can perform miracles."

The LAPD would not provide further details about the bust because it was part of a larger ongoing investigation by Ventura County sheriff's detectives, Carranza said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.