NEWS RELEASE
Heroin Traffickers Used Puppies to Smuggle Drugs
FEB 1-- (New York, NY) - The Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) New York Field Division, Special Agent-in-Charge, JOHN P. GILBRIDE announced the arrests of 22 Colombian nationals who were responsible for smuggling over 20 kilograms of heroin into the United States. The Colombian organization used various concealment methods.
Human couriers, termed "swallowers", ingested the heroin packets for transporting. Animal couriers were pure-bred puppies that had heroin packets surgically implanted in them. In one instance, six puppies were found impregnated with a total of three kilograms of liquid heroin packages.
In addition, the heroin was concealed in body creams, aerosol cans, pressed into bead shapes, and sewn into the lining of purses and luggage.
"The organization's outrageous and heinous smuggling method of implanting heroin inside puppies is a true indication of the extent that drug dealers go to make their profit," said Gilbride. "This investigation identified the individuals who were responsible for overseeing and smuggling millions of dollars worth of heroin from Colombia to the East Coast."
So far there have been 14 separate seizures of heroin totaling 24 kilograms; one seizure of six kilograms of cocaine; and 22 arrests. These arrests came after a two-year multi-agency investigation that identified an organization based in Medellin, Colombia, whose distribution network reached from Miami to New York City. The operation culminated today in an international round-up that included 18 search warrants in six different Colombian cities.
Agencies involved included the Bogota, New York, Miami and Atlanta offices of the DEA, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Colombian National Police Heroin Task Force and the Johnston County Sheriffs Department, North Carolina.
Heroin Addiction Treatment Helpline is appalled by the disregard that drug pushers have for all life and the extent that these individuals will take for illicit profits. All of us have a moral responsibility to do all we can to keep our society free of addiction. If you agree and would like to participate in drug prevention efforts, call Heroin Addiction Treatment Helpline at 1-866-403-8467 or fill out the form on the "Contact" page of this site and we will get back to you. | 
