The Canine Centre is a subdivision of the Anti-Fraud and Compliance Department and was founded in 2007.
Responsible for the surveillance and control of the state border crossing, the main mission of the Directorate is to fight against smuggling in drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, as well as weapons, ammunition, explosives and tobacco products.
One of the main duties of the Canine Centre is special training of service dogs to detect drugs, weapons, ammunition, explosives, tobacco products, hidden in cars, rail and air transport, and luggage, etc.
Service dogs that are trained according to the best international practices to detect drugs, tobacco products and, recently, foreign currency, represent one of the main tools in the control of goods and means of transportation in the customs control area and other places.
The canine inspectors regularly participate in theoretical and practical trainings organized by the institution, as well as in training courses, carried out at national and international level. The Canine Centre of the Customs Service provides practical and training assistance to the Canine units of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Another role of the unit is to promote the customs policy of the Republic of Moldova and ensure the application of customs regulations in the process of combating and preventing the smuggling in drugs, weapons, ammunition, explosives and tobacco products across the customs border of the Republic of Moldova, by exploring international practices and techniques in customs control of goods and means of transportation.
The Canine Centre of the Customs Service cooperates with other national law enforcement institutions: subdivisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and special units of security services.
In order to strengthen the capacity of the customs authorities to combat illicit smuggling of tobacco products and to adopt the best international practices, the Customs Service systematically organizes international conferences and service dog competitions, with the participation of customs authorities from Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Poland, Serbia, Germany, United Kingdom, Latvia, Russian Federation, Bulgaria etc.
For more details about the International Conference "Together in the fight against cigarette and tobacco smuggling", please see the 2015 Edition; 2018 Edition; 2019 Edition.
