St. John Sheriff Mike Tregre has named the K9 team of Det. Sgt. Brian Schum and Milli as Officer of the Fourth Quarter for 2021. Sgt. Schum and Milli, a 2-year-old black lab, were recognized for their exceptional work with the Drug Enforcement Agency-New Orleans Interdiction Task Force. With Det. Sgt. Schum and Milli are Sheriff Tregre and Dawn Butler of Moore New Homes, sponsor of the Officer of the Fourth Quarter.
Since February 2021, Sgt. Schum and Milli have assisted the DEA -New Orleans Interdiction Task Force at the New Orleans Airport in the seizure of nearly $1 million determined by the DEA to be proceeds from the sales and distribution of illegal narcotics.
After four weeks of rigorous training, Det. Sgt. Schum and Milli were certified February 12, 2021 by the National Narcotics Detector Dog Association.
Less than two weeks later, the K9 team achieved its first narcotics find, leading to the arrest of a suspect. On February 23, 2021, the team conducted a narcotics sniff of luggage belonging to a suspicious subject. Milli alerted to the odor of illegal narcotics inside the luggage. A probable cause search of the luggage was initiated, and officers located nearly $72,000 in cash believed to be proceeds from the sales and distribution of illegal narcotics.
On April 8, 2021, Det. Sgt. Schum and Milli conducted a narcotics sniff of a backpack seized from a suspicious subject. Milli alerted to the odor of illegal narcotics coming from the backpack. A probable cause search of the backpack revealed about 44 grams of marijuana and about $19,000 in cash determined to be proceeds from the sales and distribution of illegal narcotics.
On June 24, 2021, Det. Sgt. Schum and Milli conducted a narcotics sniff of a suspicious piece of luggage bound for California. Milli gave Det. Sgt. Schum a positive alert to the odor of illegal narcotics coming from the luggage. Due to Milli’s positive alert, officers obtained a search warrant and recovered $250,000 in cash from the luggage. Officers also discovered that a second piece of luggage and the owner of the luggage were due to arrive in California. DEA agents in California were able to secure a search warrant, and the owner of the luggage, along with the second piece of luggage, was detained as DEA agents recovered another $200,000 in U.S. currency.
On November 17, 2021, Det. Sgt. Schum and Milli conducted a narcotics sniff of luggage seized from a suspect. Milli alerted to the odor of illegal narcotics coming from the luggage. A probable cause search of the luggage revealed over $130,000 in U.S. currency determined by the DEA to be proceeds from the sales and distribution of illegal narcotics.