A vet who smuggled heroin into the US by stitching it into puppies has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Andres Lopez Elorez admitted raising puppies and surgically implanting packets of liquid heroine into their bodies on behalf of Colombian drug cartels.
He leased a farm in Medellin, Colombia, where he secretly raised the animals in 2004 and 2005.
On January 1, 2005, police officers searched the farm and seized 17 bags of liquid heroin, including 10 bags that were removed from nine puppies.
Three of the puppies died after contracting a virus after surgery.
Colombian-born Elorez was a fugitive until he was arrested in Spain in 2015. He was extradited to the US in May last year.
One of the dogs, Heroina, a Rottweiler, was later trained by Colombian police to be a drug detection dog.
Another, Donna, a beagle, was adopted by a Colombian police officer and his family.
