He may look like your ordinary guard dog at home - tail wagging and ears flopping - but Hunter the German shepherd is a crime-buster of note. Like any worker at OR Tambo International Airport, he reports for duty on time, in his case at 6.30am. Shortly afterwards, Hunter and his handler, Constable Bungeni Mabunda, start moving through the baggage carousels, targeting flights on known drug routes.Hunter is part of an elite team of 22 four-legged crime-fighters at OR Tambo - the only airport in South Africa with its own dedicated K9 unit. He is a specialist in drug detection.This year alone, he and other members of the airport police unit have intercepted and confiscated more than R20-million in crystal methamphetamine, R34-million in cocaine, R5-million in heroin, and R50-million in ephedrine (an ingredient in the production of crystal meth).On Thursday morning just after 8.30am, police received a tip-off that a flight from São Paulo, Brazil - notorious on the drugs route - was carrying a passenger with suspicious luggage.Hunter and Mabunda quickly identified the suspicious baggage and began their search."Soek, soek, soek," encouraged Mabunda as Hunter's sensitive nose went to work.The owner stepped aside as his luggage was scrutinised. Stone-faced, he waited seemingly unfazed as Mabunda flipped open the suitcase in search of any hint of illegal narcotics.Hunter has been trained to sit and stay next to a bag in which he has detected something suspicious.full_story_image_hleft1In this instance, the passenger and his luggage passed all tests and Hunter walked back to his handler.Their work continues when the next international flight lands and the passengers disembark.Drugs are not the only contraband smuggled in and out of South Africa.The K9 unit, together with crime intelligence and the South African Revenue Service's customs division, is fighting an uphill battle to intercept products such as abalone, rhino horn or potential explosives.Police spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo said the unit worked closely with Interpol and shared intelligence on any suspicious cargo."If there's any suspicion or intel coming in from them, we act on it."These criminals are smart. They are always trying to be a step ahead of us," he said.story_article_right1Flights to and from Brazil , Hong Kong, Nigeria and Vietnam are an automatic red flag. Special packages from London also attract interest.OR Tambo is South Africa' s busiest airport and there is never a moment's rest.But shifts for Hunter and his sharp-nosed companions are kept short so they do not lose concentration.At 11.30am, the dog's day is done.They are highly trained, but sometimes they behave like ordinary hounds and get distracted by people moving around or different smells on bags - especially food.Before the dogs are deployed, they undergo months of intensive training at the SAPS K9 training facility in Roodeplaat, northeast of Pretoria.Here, dogs such as German shepherds, labradors, border collies, golden retrievers and Belgian shepherds are taught to become expert sniffers - whether it is identifying narcotics, protected and endangered species or animal products, explosives or even different currencies."The training is very intensive and they are taught one of the various disciplines. But also during this training we train them to socialise in a specific way and not to get distracted when on the job," said Lieutenant-Colonel Kenny Govender, head of operational dog training at Roodeplaat.When off-duty, Hunter loves to fetch balls - just like any other dog...