Closing ceremony of the K-9 project was held at Tbilisi International Airport. The event was attended by US Ambassador to Georgia, H.E. Ian C. Kelly, Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Mghebrishvili , and Minister of Finance Nodar Khaduri. The US government handed K-9 project to the Georgian side which will continue operation on the basis of the cooperation between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Finance.
K9 project was implemented since 2013 with the support of Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). The project is aimed at the fight against drugs, which is one of the priorities for the Government of Georgia and for the Ministry of the Internal Affairs.
Within the frames of the project Task Force was established, comprised of employees from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Finance. The task force works at the airport and different border crossing points with specially trained sniffer dogs for drugs detection. Within the frames of the project 8 kennels were reconstructed in accordance with international standards; temporary kennels were constructed in vicinity of Tbilisi International Airport; dog handlers and service dogs were trained in the US, Turkey and Georgia.
At the event guests had an opportunity to see the simulated operation on detection and seizure of the drug substances involving the US trained dog handlers and service dogs.
