Illinois State Police K-9 dies after ongoing medical issues

(WAND) - Illinois State Police Troop 7 mourns the loss of K-9 Maco after dealing with ongoing medical issues.

According to an ISP Troop 7 social media post, K-9 Maco served faithfully alongside his handler, Illinois State Police Trooper Matthew Hunt, as a dedicated member of the law enforcement.

K-9 Maco began his service with the Illinois State Police in September 2023.

Before joining the ISP, K-9 Maco and Trooper Hunt formed their partnership at the Macon County Sheriff’s Office in August 2018.

The post stated that the two graduated from the Macon County K-9 Academy in December of that year and went on to complete over 400 deployments through September 2022.

Following their transition to the Illinois State Police, K-9 Maco and Trooper Hunt served in Troop 7 before joining the HIT Central East Unit. During his tenure with ISP, K-9 Maco continued to excel in service to the people of Illinois. His deployments contributed to the following seizures:

Over 73,600 grams of cocaine, valued at more than $4.3 million
46,000 grams of heroin, valued at over $1.1 million
37,459 grams of marijuana, valued at nearly $87,000
15 illegal firearms
Numerous arrests and successful interdictions that prevented illicit substances from reaching our communities