Colombian veterinarian charged with smuggling heroin in puppies arraigned

Brooklyn federal prosecutors on Tuesday finally collared a Colombian veterinarian indicted more than a decade ago on charges that he helped import heroin to the United States by implanting it in the stomachs of Labradors, basset hounds and other puppies.

Andres Lopez Elorez, 38, who fled to Spain after being charged in a drug conspiracy, hid out there until he was detained in 2015, and recently lost his bid to block extradition, looked bedraggled and dazed as he was arraigned in a white T-shirt and jeans in a Brooklyn courtroom.

Prosecutors said that in addition to using human mules to smuggle drugs into the United States, the Medellin-based ring deployed puppy couriers. Elorez surgically implanted liquid heroin in their bellies, the government said, and it was surgically removed after they passed into the United States.

When the Colombian puppy clinic was raided in 2005, officials said, 10 puppies, including Labs, a Rottweiler and a basset hound, were found — some with heroin already implanted. Six were saved.

The Rottweiler became a drug-sniffing dog for Colombian police named “Heroina,” and the basset hound was adopted by a policeman’s family.

“Drug organizations’ unquenchable thirst for profit leads them to do unthinkable crimes like using innocent puppies for drug concealment,” said Drug Enforcement Administration New York chief agent James Hunt.

“Elorez betrayed a veterinarian’s pledge to prevent animal suffering when he used his surgical skills in a cruel scheme to smuggle heroin in the abdomens of puppies,” said U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue. “Dogs are man’s best friend and, as the defendant is about to learn, we are drug dealers’ worst enemy.”

At a brief hearing in Brooklyn federal court, Elorez pleaded not guilty and was detained without bail. His lawyer said he needed treatment for kidney problems and depression. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of his role in the conspiracy.