Atos with his handler Roberto Harrigan. File photo Comptroller of Customs, Wade Smith, has confirmed to BVI News that Atos the Territory’s first canine officer died from spleen cancer. The eight year-old Belgium Shepherd was found dead in his kennel on the evening of September 29.
Atos was described by Smith to be “efficient and effective” and added the canine was one of the most successful canines in drug busts both locally and internationally.
“He has helped net hundreds of kilos of cocaine and cannabis,” Smith had told BVI News in a previous interview. “He also assisted in the seizure of the largest drug bust in Anguilla. He was a vital part of law enforcement in the BVI especially Customs.”
Atos arrived in the Territory in 2003, and became the first canine officer when then Customs Canine Unit was established in 2006.
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