A vital arm of the Fiji Police Force, the K9 Unit is often enlisted in challenging situations where their keen senses have proved to be the solution to obstacles faced by officers.

On Friday officers from the Valelevu Police Station were faced with such a situation after a grab and run incident on the busy streets that led to a chase throughout the populated Nadera area.

A woman who was walking near the Land Transport Authority premises was caught by surprise when her handbag was snatched from her by three men in a daring grab and run incident in the morning.

The three ran towards the Nadera area and a chase ensued by Police officers, however they lost all trace of the trio and a search was conducted which however proved futile.

Officers then decided to deploy an officer from the K9 Unit whereby K9 Rex and his handler Special Constable Sireli Taoka were taken to the scene. Within a matter of minutes K9 Rex managed to pick up the scent from some of the woman’s belongings and was immediately able to identify the direction the three had fled.

Leading his handler from the initial point of the incident down towards Nadera and eventually ending up at Veiraisi Settlement, SC Taoka knew K9 Rex was onto something.

They then searched through a nearby overgrown piece of land and K9 Rex was clearly showing signs that something of interest was nearby. And surely enough K9 Rex’s keen sense of smell did not let the search party down, as the officers managed to find one of the suspects hiding in the bushes.

The first suspect was arrested and brought back to the Valelevu Police Station whereby it was also revealed that a bench warrant was out for his arrest.

During the course of investigation the suspect also divulged the identity of his other two alleged accomplices, eventually leading to the arrest of all three who are now in custody as investigations continue.

At times the K9 Unit is often the unsung heroes of the Fiji Police Force’s operations; however the Commissioner of Police Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho in recognising their invaluable contribution, has continued to look at ways of improving and uplifting their work as he considers them to be an integral arm of policing.

The institution currently has kennels throughout all the Divisions and the K9 Unit is used for various arms of policing and is always deployed in major operations such and can be seen at major events.