Heroic Dog Sniffs Out Electronic Evidence Against Suspected Pedophile

Lori Ennis
by Lori Ennis

They say a dog’s nose can discover incredible things, but for one Labrador Retriever named Hidu, his sniffer made him a hero because using it, he found vital evidence against a high-profile suspected pedophile in hiding.


We’ve always known that a dog’s olfactory system is pretty downright impressive. And we know that dogs are known for being able to sniff out everything from truffles to COVID-19 to cancer.


But according to the Associated Press, a dog named Hidu is a hero because he was able to sniff out electronic evidence needed to prosecute a suspected pedophile who’d been hiding out in Mexico City.


A Netherlands-based group that fights human trafficking—Free A Girl—warned the U.S.-based group Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) that a Dutch man who had pedophilia cases against him in the Netherlands fled to Mexico City. The man had openly supported sexual activity with children.


OUR and other activist groups joined with Mexican prosecutors and an incredible furry detective Hidu to look for the suspect. Hidu was trained by Jordan Detection K9 Academy to sniff out electronic memory devices. The team used social media and chat rooms to entice the suspect into a trap that confirmed he was in Mexico.


Matt Osborne is the director of Global Operations for OUR. The suspect told Osborne’s team that he was in a dangerous area and didn’t want to give his address but suggested they meet at a gas station.


So, in early June, Mexico City prosecutors met the man at the gas station and put him in prison for charges of drug and weapons possession on top of human trafficking.


The team found the apartment he’d been hiding out in and then OUR brought Hidu in to sniff out triphenylphosphine oxide. Also known as TPPO, it’s a chemical that’s used to coat electronic devices like flash drives or memory cards—things that carry lots of evidence but are often easily hidden and hard to find. They’re necessary for prosecution, though, as they’re the evidence of crimes perpetrated.

Hidu had only finished training two weeks before, but he didn’t even flinch at finding the suspect’s devices—all loaded with evidence of child sexual abuse and trauma.


Hidu found a phone hidden in a pile of dirty laundry, as well as more electronic evidence that had been taped behind a painting hung on the wall.


Osborne said that those hiding spaces the hard drives were found in were difficult for a human to find, but Hidu had no problem sniffing them out. Because of Hidu’s heroism and olfactory talents, the prosecution team was able to collect four terabytes of evidence of child sexual abuse.



As the world moves more and more into electronic dependence, dogs like Hidu will become more important in the fight to protect humans, and particularly children. Todd Jordan is the owner of Jordan Detection K9 Academy, and he says that electronic dogs are now more in need because of the way the world is, and he believes every internet crime task force should have a dog like Hidu.


We agree. Well done, Hidu. You’re a very good boy!


Image: Operation Underground Railroad

Lori Ennis
Lori Ennis

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