Change to legal weed in NJ could leave future hazy for police K-9s

Published on March 20, 2018

Coincidence drove Laszlo, a now-retired Little Ferry police dog, to the biggest bust of his 8-year-career: A stash of $480,000 in drug money secreted deep in the cab of a parked tractor-trailer at the Rodeway Inn Capri.

The New Jersey State Police had been tracking the 18-wheeler, which they thought was laden with drugs, said Det. Ron Callahan, Laszlo’s hander. But Callahan’s German Shepherd instead nosed out the profits: A cash-filled garbage bag that the driver had stored in the same hidden compartment in which he’d smuggled the marijuana.

It was a triumphant moment for dog and handler.

“It was phenomenal,” said Callahan, who still runs the borough’s only K-9, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois named Quinten. “Not bad for a day’s work.” Read More