AFTER SNIFFING OUT $300 MILLION IN DRUGS, KROWBAR RETIRES AT 9

After seven years of service, during which he ferretted out more than $300
million in illegal narcotics at San Diego's borders and received the U.S.
Customs Service's highest award, the time has come for a respected officer
to retire.

Today, a party will be held at the San Ysidro Port facilities, where
organizers plan to serve a cake made of dog food and have a fire hydrant as
a retirement gift.

The customs officer, a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois named Krowbar,
officially retired a few weeks ago as one of the most productive narcotics
detection dogs in the service's history.

"He's been nothing less than extraordinary," said Customs Officer Stephen
Ralston, Krowbar's human partner.

Weaving through the vehicle entry lanes at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa
border crossings and a commercial truck inspection site in Otay Mesa, the
tan-colored dog, with Ralston holding the leash, sniffed out 65,384 pounds
of marijuana, 700 pounds of cocaine and 34 pounds of heroin in 934 busts
during his years on the job.

That's about 50 percent more busts than is typical for narcotics dogs in
the same time.

Narcotics dogs have a keen sense of smell and when they get a whiff of
drugs, they alert their handler - in Krowbar's case through a frenzied
excitement and racing beside the vehicle. The breed is known for herding
skills, but Krowbar behaves more like a hunter, Ralston said.

Krowbar's efforts drew much attention during his career.

In 1999, he and Ralston won the service's highest honor, the Commissioner's
Award, presented by then-Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, who shook Ralston's
hand and Crowbar's paw.

Krowbar's abilities also drew the attention of more than one smuggler who
threatened to have him killed, Ralston said.

Before Krowbar entered the Customs Service in 1995 at age 2, he was
Ralston's pet. Ralston got the dog from a woman in Los Angeles who bred
Belgian Malinois for police work, but Krowbar had failed a training test
for a police job because he was too skittish.

But at Ralston's home, the young Krowbar loved to play with the rolled
white towels that officers use as a primary training device for narcotics
dogs, so Ralston offered the dog to the Customs Service, where Krowbar's
keen nose and boundless energy won him a job.

Ralston is working with a new dog now, but he said of Krowbar, "You know
it's impossible for any dog to be better."

Krowbar's collar, with its miniature customs badge, has been removed, and
Ralston keeps it. Krowbar is once again Ralston's pet. The dog spends much
of his time running in Ralston's back yard and ambling across the Mojave
Desert when Ralston goes dirt-bike riding.