Liberty County K-9 Deputy Charlie, the Bloodhound, is now 3 for 3 in locating suspects, people with cognitive conditions who wandered off and now sniffing out an illegal marijuana plant growth.

This past Sunday the Liberty County Sheriff's Office Narcotic Unit and Bloodhound team of Capt. Lonnie Bowman and K-9 Charlie made a drug bust.

The LCSO received a tip about a possible illegal marijuana grow in the rural area of the county. After conducting surveillance and initiating a traffic stop on a suspect vehicle, a quantity of fresh green marijuana was seized.

Information gathered from the investigation indicated that the arrested subject had been seen exiting a wooded area around 7 a.m. that morning.

The Liberty Narcotics Unit contacted Captain Lonnie Bowman and requested that he attempt to track the suspect’s trail back to the possible grow site.
Captain Bowman collected odor from the suspect’s pants. Captain Bowman and K-9 Charlie who is a trained scent discriminate Bloodhound recently purchased from Scent Evidence K9, responded to the scene.

According to the Sheriff’s Office the scent trail was now 30 hours old and had been rained on. However Bowman allowed Charlie to take the scent and run.

Charlie was able to trail the suspect’s scent approximately two and a half miles, where several marijuana plants were located. 

“Charlie has been a benefit to our community,” Sheriff Sikes said. “The Scent Evidence K9 team couldn’t be prouder of Liberty County’s hard work and commitment to creating a safer community for the people they serve.”