SCSO K-9 utilized in heroin arrest

KELLOGG — A wanted felon was taken into custody Sunday afternoon following a drug detection K-9 deployment.

The Shoshone County Sheriff's Office reports that on Nov. 29 at 3:23 p.m., deputy Ben Abshire and his K-9 partner, Lulu, were conducting stationary traffic enforcement near the area of East Cameron Avenue and Hill Street in Kellogg.

While there, Abshire witnessed a silver Hyundai Elantra perform an improper stop at a controlled intersection. The driver, identified as Adrian Brisbois, 25, of Smelterville, was recognized by Abshire and also had a suspended drivers license.

After making contact with Brisbois following a traffic stop, Dep. Lulu was deployed and conducted a free air sniff of the vehicle and alerted to the presence of an illegal substance. Following further investigation, a brown tar substance, believed to be heroin, was seized along with other associated paraphernalia.

Consequently, Brisbois was arrested for an outstanding felony warrant from Kootenai County, as well as being charged locally for possession of heroin (felony) and possession of drug paraphernalia (misdemeanor).

SCSO Lt. Jeff Lee was proud of the work Abshire and Lulu did and also stressed the importance of their agency having drug detection K-9s.

"Both of our K-9 teams are a huge asset for the SCSO, but most importantly, for the people of Shoshone County," he said. "Our K-9 deputies are very busy on patrol, but very active in their daily drug investigations. We are all proud of what they do."

In the last year, both K-9 Lulu and Midnight have been deployed a total of 270 times — leading to 64 alerts and 117 items seized.