ALLEGED DRUG MONEY UNCOVERED San Juan’s million-dollar dog

By G. Romero Wendorf

Two stories, two weeks straight on the San Juan PD? What gives? Isn’t there more to write about? Sure there is. There’s the big election in San Juan, in fact. Already promising to be a riproaring affair. Besides San Juan. Well, okay, there’s the big May 9th election in Pharr and the Hub Phestival this weekend (see ad page 10). The HubPhest is over this weekend, but stories about the election should appear over the next four weeks. Then there’s the big (relatively speaking) settlement at Donna ISD I’ve been wanting to write about (paper shredding yields $85,000 for district employee who filed a grievance). Not to mention the new plans the district has adopted to prevent texting trouble between students and teachers from happening. There’s the interview I did with Bob Glick about the availability of AR-15 ammo (big concern for gun-rights advocates, not to mention hunters); and the interview I did with Hidalgo County District Clerk Laura Hinojosa on her successful public career thus far (profile piece, if you will). Valley Outdoor Power Equipment just celebrated its 25th anniversary (big deal for any relative small-business owner). Good story there. I still need to interview former McAllen City Manager Mike Perez to see how he’s getting along with his new CM job in Weslaco. There’s the question of who’s behind the personal attack flyer against Richard Cortez that hit mailboxes in McAllen during thespecial election. And the overall question: is anonymous negative political campaigning on the rise, considering what’s going on in Pharr as well on Facebook. And on and on. Plenty of good stories to write, but I fall behind as is typically my lot, so here I am on a deadline Tuesday, up against the clock, so I need a short story to round out the top of page one. And what drops into my lap, but a brief story I can write about in pretty quick fashion, namely San Juan PD’s Million-Dollar Dog named Levi. And since I’m a dog lover, it’s a perfect fit. Why is he called the Million-Dollar Dog? Because the San Juan PD bought him five years ago for approximately $6,000, and already he’s sniffed out a little more than a million dollars in alleged drug money in a little more than a year. “That’s a pretty good investment for the San Juan PD,” said Police Chief Juan Gonzalez, who’s also serving as the city’s interim city manager. Levi’s trained to sniff out contraband, and last week, that’s what he did when a SJ K-9 police officer pulled over a semi truck for a traffic violation along I Road that was headed south for a trip back across the border. “The driver gave the officer conflicting stories and was very evasive on his answers to our officer,” said Gonzalez. Subsequently, San Juan’s HIKE (home invasions, kidnappings and extortions) Special Investigative Group was called in and a consent to search was requested. “The driver gave us his consent,” said Gonzalez. And then it didn’t take Levi long to sniff out the approximate $799,000 hidden beneath secret drops inside the battery compartments located just behind the truck’s cab. “Besides this latest contraband find, last year Levi sniffed out approximately $389,000 in cash,” said Gonzalez. Add all of that together, and the dog with the talented nose has helped the SJ PD cash in on a little more than $1 million. To be exact: $1,187,500. Levi’s the product of K9 Global Training Academy out of San Antonio. He’s a Belgian Malinois, a breed common among police dog handlers. For the SJ PD, Levi’s considered a “contraband” sniffer, which includes drugs and currency. So what happens to the money? According to Gonzalez, the SJ PD will file for forfeiture rights in state court. If the PD wins the forfeiture case, which it expects to do, said Gonzalez, the departmentstands to reap approximately 70 percent of the cash haul. All of which will be used for police training and equipment purchases. Bond for the driver, a Mexican national, was set at $250,000.