Indonesia and Australia Strengthen Border Enforcement Through Detector Dog Program
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGCE) and Australian Border Force (ABF) share a long-standing cooperation to counter transnational crime focused on capacity building, knowledge sharing, data exchange, and mutual support in the World Customs Organization (WCO) Forum. The partnership, which began with the Customs to Customs Talk in 1993 and a renewed Memorandum of Understanding is due to be signed this year. This has contributed to stronger border security and economic cooperation between Australia and Indonesia.
A major achievement of this partnership is the Regional Dog Training Center (RDTC) in Rawamangun, East Jakarta. Recognised by the WCO as the leading detector dog training facility in Southeast Asia, the centre currently houses up to 60 dogs trained to detect narcotics and cash linked to money laundering as well as providing training facilities for Indonesia and the Asia Pacific Region.
The detector dog program is central to the Australia – Indonesia border enforcement ecosystem and reflects a close partnership to combat narcotics smuggling and transnational crime. We are proud to be partnering with our colleagues at DGCE
said Inspector Sarah Body, First Secretary ABF – Indonesia and Timor- Leste.
The RDTC manages active, newly trained, and retired detector dogs. One of its most celebrated detector
dogs, Andro, a 12-year-old Labrador Retriever, helped detect 2.6 tonnes of methamphetamine during two major maritime operations in Batam in 2018, and uncovered narcotics worth an estimated 17 billion Rupiah in Riau in 2021.
Xandra and her handler conducted a practical cargo search exercise during a training session.
During AIPJ3’s bridging phase, ABF supported DGCE through technical trainings and initiatives to improve detector dog welfare, including retirement and adoption programs. ABF also facilitated an exchange program for four DGCE dog handlers with the ABF Detector Dog Program in Perth, Australia in February 2026 and conducted the Pawsome Festival in October 2025.
“The collaboration with ABF has provided our instructors and dog handlers with valuable opportunities to learn from Australia. In the future, we plan to establish a dog breeding centre to develop stronger and more resilient detector dogs so efforts to counter cross-border narcotics smuggling can be further strengthened,” said Denny Benhard, Head of Detector Dog (K-9) Subdivision Unit at DGCE.
The ABF – DGCE detector dog program, alongside border threat workshops and frontline women in leadership initiatives, is part of the Australia – Indonesia Strong Borders Program supported by AIPJ3 during the implementation phase commencing in June 2026.
Read also: AIPJ3 Special Edition – Celebrating 15 Years of Justice Partnership (June 2026)