Punta Cana International Airport announces K-9 canine unit to raise security standard

PUNTA CANA, La Altagracia, RD September 14, 2022.- The Punta Cana International Airport (AIPC) began the renovation of the canine unit of the air terminal, to raise the quality standards and conditions of the areas in which the agents and canines (K-9) perform their security work.

The information was offered by Ubaldo Reyes, security director of Grupo Puntacana, who said that with the renovation of the canine unit, the aim is to have state-of-the-art facilities and safeguard the terminal “to ensure that it is a safer place for travelers.”

Reyes indicated that with this objective, the airport donated seven (7) canine specimens (K-9), of different breeds, to the Specialized Corps of Airport Security and Civil Aviation (CESAC), which will be used by the Canine Unit of Detectors of Explosives in that air terminal.

Upon making the delivery, Reyes said that the donation of canines “seeks to put our terminal at the forefront of security in all airport facilities to protect it against acts of illegal interference, which is a national need.”

“CESAC carries out exhaustive work every day in the areas of checked baggage, parking lots, passenger terminals and cargo areas, executing valuable search and detection work for explosive devices, to safeguard all airport terminals in our country”, Reyes assured.

Likewise, Adolfo Rodríguez, Airside Operations Manager, said that the objective of the airport’s different security programs is to “safeguard lives and property in and around the terminal facilities.”

Rodríguez mentioned that with the K-9 canine program, for explosives detection, “we seek to provide immediate responses, identifying threats that could put the integrity of our airport community at risk.”

The Captain of the FARD, Andy Reyes, deputy director of the Canine Unit of CESAC, said that the program for the delivery of canine specimens for airport security “puts us at the forefront, in the protection of airports against acts of illicit interference.”

ICAO controls

Annex 17, of the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), requires that adequate security controls be applied to all cargo and mail before being loaded onto an aircraft, to prevent the introduction of explosives.

For this reason, Andy Reyes pointed out, “our airport directly seeks all the tools that support security within our facilities.”

He assured that detection dogs are considered the most effective and adaptable method for detecting explosives, and the increase in new and sophisticated threats “leads us to form and emphatically support the K9-AIPC program in conjunction with our strategic allies for these purposes. ”.