Orla has had a dream start to her policing career.
The canine crimefighter graduated from the New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre at Trentham last week and on her first day on the beat she sniffed out a cannabis stash during a police search.
Orla is the first narcotic detector dog to be based in the region and given Northland is the cannabis capital of the country, this newest recruit should have plenty of work to hone her skills - especially over the summer months and cannabis growing season.
Northland police had previously called on their Auckland colleagues with trained drug dogs to come north and help sniff out illegal drugs.
Sergeant Phil Kahotea, who has 25 years' experience in the dog section, said Orla had done exactly the right things during the search of a Northland house on Thursday by sniffing out the stash in a set of drawers and then some more under a bed.