Six cloned sniffer dogs have been dispatched at customs offices nationwide.

The Korea Customs Service said Sunday that the six born in 2007 have finished training for detecting drugs and are posted at customs agencies, including the one at Incheon International Airport.

The agency said it is extremely difficult to find and clone dogs suited to become sniffer dogs. Thirty percent of dogs in Korea and around 50 percent in other countries are reportedly fit to become detection dogs but the six cloned dogs are all suited to become such dogs.

Around 40 million won is needed to train a sniffer dog, so the agency said some 560 million won in costs were saved through the cloning of the dogs.