Police Dog Trained to Sniff Out SD Cards and Flash Drives

As part of the investigation into Jared Fogle, the former Subway spokesperson, affectionately known as “Subway Guy”, under suspicion of trafficking child pornography, federal agents used a dog trained specifically to sniff out SD cards, flash drives, and other external storage devices was employed during an 11-hour search of his home.

During the search of Fogle’s home in Zionsville, Indiana, a black Labrador named Bear assisted law enforcement with his unique nose for detachable storage devices. As Todd Jordan, Bear’s chief handler with the Tactical Detection K9 Unit, puts it, “Bear is unique because he can sniff out SD cards, thumb drives, external hard drives, iPads and micro SD cards.” Bear is one of only three dogs in the US with the ability to smell electronics. “It’s something we probably can’t smell,” Jordan adds.

The role of K9s such as Bear is becoming vital to police investigations in a digital world, with Jordan saying, “You think about investigators going into a house and trying to find a micro SD card that is as big of a finger nail. It will take investigators hours, especially if someone is trying to hide it.”

Bear can thoroughly search a room in about five minutes. Once he has found a device, he sits on it or near it to show his handler where it is, and gets a treat for every successful find. Regarding Bear’s role in the Fogle investigation, Jordan said, “Everything is still under investigation, so I’m not really allowed to talk about it.”

Thank you Fox59 for providing us with this information.