Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

K9 Officer "Narco" dies

He was born January of 1992 and died Aug.

19, 2008. During his life, he helped local law

enforcement agencies bring several criminals to

justice, mainly for violation of drug laws.

His name was Narco. He was a K9 officer with

the Nevada County Sheriffs Office for most of

his life and died peacefully in his sleep.

Prescott Police Department Officer Larry

Miller served as Narcos final handler and cared

for the dog until his death this summer.

Miller took over Narcos care in 1998 as the

K9s fourth handler. Narco was officially retired

from the county just two years ago though he had

been inactive for some time.

Miller said handling a dog is a lot of work,

ranging from care of the animal to training.

Narcos main use was as a drug canine.

Though Narco was also trained for search and rescue

and for security, he was seldom used for those

purposes.

Miller said Narco was just like a police officer.

For example, Narco loved to play ball and was

friendly with members of Millers family. But the

moment he got into the back of a police car, he

was all business.

At home he was just a dog, Miller said. He

was part of the family. He changed the minute he

was in the back of the police car.

Miller said Narco located drugs in many situations,

including at area schools and in vehicles. If

Narco noted drugs in a vehicle, he would then

climb inside and show exactly where they were

located, Miller said. Narco is credited with several

drug-related arrests.

He was the smartest dog Ive ever seen,

Miller said.

Miller said Narco worked both in the county

and in Prescott. In the county, he was generally

calm. In the city, he barked at many things.

Hed drive you crazy but he was a good partner