During Scamp’s five-year career, he’s found £6m worth of illegal tobacco thanks to his powerful sense of smell and natural hunting instincts.
All together, three other Spaniels working for Phillips have uncovered more than £12 million of illegal tobacco products in various raids across the UK, working with the police and other law enforcement branches.
Yoyo found £40,000 in cash together with illegal tobacco in a shop in Swansea.
Phillips said Scamp – who enjoys posing for Instagram pictures with his huge hauls – had experience of working with dozens of councils across the UK and his exploits have led to several court cases.
He said the bounty was evidence that the canine had upset criminals.
Phillips – who trained Scamp using games of fetch and odour testing – added: “
[The bounty] was believed to be linked to an organised crime group and the relevant authorities were informed.
“I’ve also had death threats, my windscreen has been smashed and my tyres slashed.
“It’s understandable really, when you’re upsetting some really nasty people.”
Scamp is one of the expert detection dogs who work with the trainers at BWY Canine – with firearms, drugs and explosives among the other illegal items tracked down.
Illegal tobacco makes up most of the job, with it smuggled in from as far afield as China or Russia and sold on to fund organised crime.
Scamp’s colleague YoYo has sniffed out £4.5m worth of tobacco since he began work in 2014 – and now, the next generation of sniffer dogs are being trained using tried-and-tested methods.
Phillips explained:
Spaniels are especially good at being sniffer dogs because they have traditionally been used for hunting.
“Their natural instinct is to sniff out birds and rabbits. Some days we could be searching five or six shops with each search taking around 25 minutes.
“We need dogs that are capable of doing that work day in, day out. These dogs are made to work, they are not made to sit around on a sofa all day.”
As well as tobacco, dogs like Scamp and YoYo have also been trained to sniff out bank notes – with Scamp once uncovering a stash worth almost £60,000.
Phillips has advertised that the company is looking for more spaniels who are motivated and good at fetching.
