Canine crime fighters have a nose for pirated DVDs

Earlier this month, the documentary version of FP Editor in Chief Moisés Naím’s bestselling book Illicit aired on the TV channel PBS in the United States. The film and book documents how — as the book’s subtitle says — "smugglers, traffickers, and copycats are hijacking the global economy." Those copycats who profit off pirated DVDs had better be ...

Earlier this month, the documentary version of FP Editor in Chief Moisés Naím's bestselling book Illicit aired on the TV channel PBS in the United States. The film and book documents how -- as the book's subtitle says -- "smugglers, traffickers, and copycats are hijacking the global economy."

Earlier this month, the documentary version of FP Editor in Chief Moisés Naím’s bestselling book Illicit aired on the TV channel PBS in the United States. The film and book documents how — as the book’s subtitle says — "smugglers, traffickers, and copycats are hijacking the global economy."

Those copycats who profit off pirated DVDs had better be careful, though. The doggy duo of Lucky and Flo are out to get them. The black Labs are the first canines to have been trained to sniff out the polycarbonates found in DVDs and CDs. Although they can’t differentiate between legit and pirated discs, their noses lead human investigators to discs that are hidden in cargo that has been declared as having other items, such as clothing. Lucky and Flo have been so successful that they’ve even received death threats from crime syndicates.

Check out a video of the furry crime fighters here:

 

Preeti Aroon was copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009 to 2016 and was an FP assistant editor from 2007 to 2009. Twitter: @pjaroonFP

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