One of the most esteemed canine officers working with the Customs Department – K9 Sophie – is retiring.

K9 Sophie, a loyal and dedicated Labrador Retriever, joined Customs operations – now part of the Malta Tax and Customs Administration – in 2018.

Sophie was described by the unit as a K9 who could go into "customs officer mode" in the "blink of an eye," the MTCA said in a statement.

“Throughout her years on the job, Sophie demonstrated exceptional olfactory skills, obedience, and tenacity in detection. She bagged 106 positive hits, 51 of which were related to cash seizures, detecting almost €1 million in undeclared cash. Her biggest achievement intercepting €165,318 of undeclared cash in a single find, at the Malta International Airport. Sophie also sniffed out 28 other cases leading to tobacco seizures, including 15,600 cigarettes,” the administration said.

Last year, Sophie won the Best Animal in Uniform award during Malta’s Animal Honours Award ceremony.

Sophie’s achievements reflect those of other Customs units which saw 600kgs of cocaine and 35kgs of cannabis intercepted and seized by Customs at the Freeport, other seaports and the Airport, just in the first three months of 2024. During this period, Customs also registered increased success when dealing with goods infringing the intellectual property rights and managed to seize over 72,000 items of counterfeit goods. Screening also led to the detection of 24 stolen vehicles, while just over €60,000 in undeclared cash were found in five separate seizures at the airport.

Sophie is now officially retired and has been adopted by her dog handler.