At 4 years old and about 70 pounds, Bosco is a very big boy and very sociable.

He’s also a lost child’s best friend and a criminal’s worst nightmare.

Bosco, a Belgian malinois, is the Vicksburg Police Department’s newest K9, coming free from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a department of the U.S. Homeland Security. He was introduced to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Monday.

The introduction included a demonstration of Bosco’s talents, as he sniffed out a small pack of marijuana hidden under the podium in the board meeting room.

Rick McDaniel, a crime scene officer with the Vicksburg Police Department who helped the city acquire Bosco, said the dog is trained as a tracker and in detecting narcotics, counterfeit money and firearms.

He said part of the reason for getting Bosco was the advancing age of his K9 partner, Ranger, who is 7.

“I have contacts at Customs,” McDaniel said. “I told them (Chief Walter Armstrong) that I did not want the police department to have to pay for another dog. If we needed another dog, let me contact Customs, where I had contacts.”

McDaniel said he had been working with Bosco for about a month. Bosco, however, will not be his partner. He will work with officer Robert Arnold, who also was at the meeting for a short period.