Iro continues service with sheriff's office

Deputy K9 Iro and his discovery: 2.5 pounds of marijuana.
Deputy K9 Iro and his discovery: 2.5 pounds of marijuana.

KINGDOM CITY - Who's a good boy? Iro's a good boy.

On Thursday night, the Callaway County Sheriff's Office K9 assisted Missouri Highway Patrol troopers at 9:02 p.m. with an investigation on Interstate 70.

Troopers called the K9 unit in to help with a stopped vehicle near the 149 mile marker, just east of Kingdom City. According to Sheriff Clay Chism, K9 Iro alerted on the suspect vehicle,and subsequently, a felony amount of marijuana and related articles were seized from the vehicle.

State troopers arrested the vehicle driver. A trooper report identifies him as Evan W. Harris, 24, of Wake Forest, North Carolina. He was charged with delivery of a controlled substance (2.5 pounds of marijuana), and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

Harris was placed in the Callaway County Jail with no bond.

Iro teamed up with Deputy Alan LeBel in 2017, trained three months with the Boone County Sheriff Office's K9 program, and hit the streets Aug. 20 of that year. A German shepherd, Iro was born in the Czech Republic and imported to a specialized K9 kennel in Pennsylvania become coming the Callaway County Sheriff's Office.

Iro is the departments first K9. In his first two weeks of service, Iro was deployed 12 times.