The Case of the Smuggled Contraband

Detectives Davis and Moreno were called to the scene of a nearby warehouse. When they arrived, Sergeant Ziegler of the narcotics division filled them in on the situation.
“We received a tip from an informant that illegal drugs were being stored in this building,” the sergeant told them. “We secured a search warrant and now we are making a thorough sweep of the area.”
The detectives noticed that several dogs from the K-9 unit were sniffing around all of the loads of boxes on pallets.
“Our dogs are specially trained to locate the scent of any narcotics in this area,” Zeigler said. “If they smell any, they will alert us at once.”
Davis and Moreno spent the next two hours looking over the thousands of boxes in the area. They were looking for any suspicious shipments which might be among the lots.
After two hours, Officer Zeigler shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s no use,” he said. “The dogs just haven’t been able to find any drugs. There may be contraband here, but there are just too many boxes to open in order to find it. We may have to end the search and try some other way.”
At that moment, Davis was passing several large boxes with pictures of televisions on the covers. He noticed something suspicious on the side of one of the boxes. He then smelled something which caught his interest.
“I think that you should open this box,” he told Zeigler. “I believe that you might find the contents very interesting.”
“Well, if you say so,” the narcotics officer replied with a tone of resignation. “We’re running out of time anyway. I guess that your guess is as good as anyone else’s.”
The policemen took out some knives and a crowbar and opened the box. To their surprise, they found several kilos of cocaine inside!
“This is incredible,” Moreno exclaimed. “But how did you find it if the dogs couldn’t?”
“It wasn’t too hard,” Davis said. “I simply looked for something that they weren’t looking for.”

HOW DID DAVIS SOLVE THE CASE?

THE ANSWER
Davis knew that the dogs were trained to find the scents of illegal drugs. He also knew that the dogs pretty much ignored the smells of anything else. When he passed the box, he noticed a small hole in the side. He smelled the hole and found that there was coffee inside. He wondered why anyone would pack coffee in a box which was meant for TV’s? The answer was that the smell of the coffee was meant to hide the smell of something else hidden deep within the box. His hunch proved to be correct.
THE CASE OF THE SMUGGLED CONTRABAND

Detectives Davis and Moreno were called to the scene of a nearby warehouse. When they arrived, Sergeant Ziegler of the narcotics division filled them in on the situation.
“We received a tip from an informant that illegal drugs were being stored in this building,” the sergeant told them. “We secured a search warrant and now we are making a thorough sweep of the area.”
The detectives noticed that several dogs from the K-9 unit were sniffing around all of the loads of boxes on pallets.
“Our dogs are specially trained to locate the scent of any narcotics in this area,” Zeigler said. “If they smell any, they will alert us at once.”
Davis and Moreno spent the next two hours looking over the thousands of boxes in the area. They were looking for any suspicious shipments which might be among the lots.
After two hours, Officer Zeigler shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s no use,” he said. “The dogs just haven’t been able to find any drugs. There may be contraband here, but there are just too many boxes to open in order to find it. We may have to end the search and try some other way.”
At that moment, Davis was passing several large boxes with pictures of televisions on the covers. He noticed something suspicious on the side of one of the boxes. He then smelled something which caught his interest.
“I think that you should open this box,” he told Zeigler. “I believe that you might find the contents very interesting.”
“Well, if you say so,” the narcotics officer replied with a tone of resignation. “We’re running out of time anyway. I guess that your guess is as good as anyone else’s.”
The policemen took out some knives and a crowbar and opened the box. To their surprise, they found several kilos of cocaine inside!
“This is incredible,” Moreno exclaimed. “But how did you find it if the dogs couldn’t?”
“It wasn’t too hard,” Davis said. “I simply looked for something that they weren’t looking for.”

HOW DID DAVIS SOLVE THE CASE?

THE ANSWER
Davis knew that the dogs were trained to find the scents of illegal drugs. He also knew that the dogs pretty much ignored the smells of anything else. When he passed the box, he noticed a small hole in the side. He smelled the hole and found that there was coffee inside. He wondered why anyone would pack coffee in a box which was meant for TV’s? The answer was that the smell of the coffee was meant to hide the smell of something else hidden deep within the box. His hunch proved to be correct.