Set-up
In June 2006 I took my family on a cruise from Auckland to the South Pacific and back again. As I had seen the Customs advert for training drug dogs, I got in touch and we arranged that if time permitted we would take part. My family was travelling with another Police member and his family.
We arrived in the Port of Auckland and were waiting to leave the boat when we both got called to the main desk. My wife knew what was happening but my colleague had not told his wife. We met with the New Zealand Customs staff and got “set up”, then returned to our waiting area.
We left the boat and had the set-up ready for the dogs. They found us and we got pulled aside. Our kids were puzzled at first but once they clicked they loved it. Our wives were embarrassed and the other people on the boat who were in the customs area just pointed and looked with evil glares as we were searched for “illegal drugs”. It was a strange but fun way to end a wonderful holiday and we also got to help out the New Zealand Customs Service.