A gang of Colombian drug pushers surgically implanted packets of liquid heroin into adorable puppies in an evil plot to smuggle millions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States, authorities revealed on February 1, 2006.
"I think it's outrageous and heinous that they'd use small, innocent puppies in this way," said New York City DEA chief John Gilbride as he announced the arrests of 22 Colombians implicated in the canine caper. "It just demonstrates what lengths drug dealers will go to get drugs into the country."
An unknown number of drug-laden dogs were flown on commercial flights from Colombia to New York so the heroin, derived from poppies, could be distributed throughout the East Coast, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The agency suspects the puppies were heartlessly killed and thrown out with the garbage when the heroin was extracted from their bodies. DEA agents in Colombia were tipped off in 2004 by "a call in regards to cruelty to animals" at a farm in the city of Medellin, according to the agency.
A subsequent raid on that farm rescued 10 purebred puppies, including Labrador retrievers, authorities said. Six of those desperate dogs had had a total of three kilos of heroin stitched into their bellies by a local vet. Three of those poor pooches later died from infections after the drugs were removed. Gilbride said the surviving dogs are "alive and well." They are "living happily with families in Colombia," a DEA spokeswoman said. The Drug Enforcement Agency doggedly investigated the Medellin-based drug-dealing ring for two years before putting the bite on it.
The probe revealed an operation that smuggled more than 20 kilos or heroin � worth $20 million � into the United States by means that included not only the puppy couriers, but also human "mules" who voluntarily swallowed condoms or latex gloves filled with drugs. So far, the feds have seized 14 separate shipments of heroin totaling 24 kilograms. Eighteen search warrants related to the probe were executed in six Colombian cities yesterday. References« Back to Search Results
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