The introduction of detector dogs on a broad scale, as a major tool in the stepped-up drive on narcotic smuggling along the borders and at the country's major gateways, was announced by U. S. Commissioner of Customs, Myles J. Ambrose.

The program is part of the crackdown mounted by the Bureau of Customs, an arm of the Treasury Department, oh drug smuggling. The drive is directed principally against hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine, but is also aimed at interdicting the large-scale smuggling of marijuana and hashish, the use of which has reached epidemic proportions.

Detector dogs have been tested by the Customs Service for several years. They have proved their effectiveness in locating marijuana and hashish (its concentrated derivative), particularly in mail parcels and cargo sent to the United States from abroad, and in vehicles at border stations.

The dogs are being trained and assigned to their stations at Mexican border ports and mailrooms where there are large volumes of packages. So far the dogs have proved their worth:

On his first test assignment in Laredo, a Customs detector dog indicated that marijuana was concealed behind the door panel of a previously searched car. The marijuana was so professionally hidden that Customs officers found no indications that the door panel had been tampered with. When the panel was removed, five pounds of marijuana were found and two smugglers were arrested.

In Miami, when a Customs dog pawed the surface of a wooden table he indicated the presence of hashish. Customs officers polished out the scratch marks and sent the table, under surveillance, to the addressee. When the table was disassembled 20 pounds of hashish were seized and the violator was arrested.

In a cooperative arrangement with the Bureau of Customs, the Department of Defense is providing dogs and the facilities in which to train them in detecting marijuana and hashish. The U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force are also helping to unite discharged Vietnam veteran dog handlers with new jobs as handlers for Customs.

The San Antonio Air Materiel Area Military Working Dog Program at Lackland A.F.B., Texas, procures the dogs and provides kennel facilities and training areas.

The Air Force and the Physical Security Branch of the Provost Marshall General of the Army also provide Customs with names of veteran dog handlers who have been or are about to be discharged and who might be interested in the Customs law enforcement program. In some cases, Customs has been successful in hiring servicemen even before the end of their tours of duty under the "early out" for law enforcement purposes.

Former senior military noncommissioned officers, skilled in dog and dog handler instruction, handle the training.

When the dogs arrive for training, they undergo a physical examination and "personality tests." Only dogs with a naturally "gentle disposition" are selected for Customs training. (Although normally the dogs are not hi direct contact with the public, Customs takes this additional precaution to assure that the dogs are good-natured.)

Training for each dog and handler takes approximately two months.

Initially, Customs officers instruct the handler in Customs laws, procedures, and search techniques. Then a training program matching each dog handler with two dogs is set up. During this phase, the dogs learn to find and point out concealed marijuana and the handler learns to respond to each dog's method of alerting him.

Prior to graduation, the dogs must successfully complete intensive tests, including finding marijuana concealed among parcels of foodstuffs and disguised by odor-masking chemicals. In one of the tests, marijuana is buried in a fruit jar under a gravel road. The dog must walk along the road, locate the jar, and dig it up.

Once training is completed, narcotic detector dog teams are assigned to Customs international mail facilities, cargo docks and terminals, and border ports, where they screen mail, cargo, unaccompanied baggage, ships, and vehicles suspected of carrying illicit drugs. So far, dogs have been successfully used at Boston, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Antonio, Dallas, Laredo, and Roma, Texas.

During one 2-week trial period, the dogs made 18 seizures of illicit drugs.

After teams have been assigned and during subsequent training phases, the Bureau of Customs will continue to explore additional opportunities for using dogs in detecting marijuana and hard narcotics.