A newly graduated working dog named Hidu has teamed up with Mexican prosecutors and a group of Dutch activists to form an unusual international coalition. Together, they helped take down a dangerous child predator.
Jason Maatman, a known Dutch pedophile, fled to Mexico City to evade prosecution in the Netherlands. Authorities arrested him at a bus stop, but without a home address, they feared that his cache of digital evidence would go missing.
Authorities were able to track Maatman’s movements back to the filthy apartment he was renting using a network of street surveillance cameras. When the police received the search warrant, Hidu went to work.
A recent graduate of Jordan Detection K9 Academy in Indianapolis, Indiana, this good boy has been trained to sniff out electronic devices since he was a puppy. Electronic detection dog like Hidu learning to detect triphenylphosphine oxide, or TPPO, a chemical coating used in flash drives and memory cards. Chemicals prevent these devices from overheating and produce a distinctive odor that dogs like Hidu can identify.
Todd Jordan initially trained dogs to “detect accelerations” to sniff out accelerators like gasoline in cases of possible arson. But with the increase in cybercrime, electronic detection dogs are in high demand. Jordan has now trained 83 dogs to detect flash drives and memory devices that criminals use to store everything from child pornography to cryptocurrency used in drug deals. .
“I think electronic dogs have now surpassed accelerated canines just because of their need, and just because of the way the world is,” says Jordan. “These dogs, I mean just anybody, any internet crime task force could use one of these dogs.”
This is Hidu’s first case since graduating from the academy two weeks ago. This is also the first case abroad for any of Jordan’s dogs.
Operation Underground Railroad, a US-based organization that fights human trafficking, took Hidu and his handler to Mexico City, where prosecutors prepared to search Maatman’s apartment.
“I understood there was a cell phone hidden in a laundry basket with a horrible total of rancid laundry, you know, dirty clothes in a corner that no one could get in,” Matt Osborne, Global Operations Manager of OUR said. “The dog found that phone.”
Hidu also said child pornography was taped to the wall below the painting, Osborne said. “The dog sniffed a few hard drives in a few places in his apartment that are hard for humans to find, but the dog sniffed it.”
All told, Hidu has recovered more than four terabytes of child sexual abuse material.
Maatman was also found in possession of a pistol and several doses of cocaine at the time of his arrest. He is being held at a Mexico City prison on charges of human trafficking, drug and weapon possession.
“We understand that he is hosting interesting offers from others who want to do business with him,” Osborne said, apparently to sell or monetize a trove of pornographic material related to children. “He’s saying he needs money.”
Thanks to Hidu, this dangerous predator is far from being seen outside a prison.
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