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Dog used to smuggle $1M in heroin to JFK Airport: Officials – Metro US

Dog used to smuggle $1M in heroin to JFK Airport: Officials

Dog used to smuggle $1M in heroin to JFK Airport: Officials
Queens DA

Updated at 12:39 p.m.

The dog whose crate was used to smuggle more than $1 million in heroin into JFK Airport “is currently being evaluated by medical staff at the ASPCA Animal Hospital,” spokeswoman Natasha Whitling told Metro.

The light-haired shepherd is believed to be around 1-year-old and while there are surely many New Yorkers who would love to add him to their family, “it is too soon to discuss adoption prospects,” Whitling added.

Originally posted at 8:44 a.m.

Dogs usually assist in sniffing out drugs, not smuggling them. However, one pup was used to ship more than $1 million in heroin to JFK International Airport from Puerto Rico, officials said.

In the false bottom of the shepherd-like dog’s crate, 10 kilos of heroin were found last week,Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced Monday.

Two men — Samuel Seabrooks of the Bronx and Carlos Betancourt-Morales of Carmel, New York — were charged with first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and second-degree conspiracy. They both face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The two met on March 24 at an IHOP restaurant in the Bronx before traveling separately to American Airlines Priority Parcel Services at JFK, Brown said in a statement. Betancourt-Morales allegedly entered the facility to sign a form to accept the 86-pound crate containing the dog.

Before he could exit the cargo building, Betancourt-Morales was stopped by police. A court-authorized search warrant the following day discovered the kilos of heroin in the crate’s false bottom.

“This amount of heroin, when distributed at the street level, would jeopardize numerous lives and undoubtedly contribute to other crime,” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said.

“Statistics show that, unfortunately, heroin has made a comeback in New York City and its surrounding suburbs, with fatal overdoses outpacing homicides,” the district attorney added. “Drug dealers should be forewarned — New York City is not the place to import or sell illegal narcotics.”