Dog News

Dog in Crate Used to Smuggle Heroin Through JFK Airport

by Amy Drew

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According to the Queens D.A., the dog was taken into ASPCA custody. The NYPD’s Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad was also part of the bust. Photo: Queens District Attorney’s office

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A dog in a crate was employed as a drug mule for two New York men sending more than $1 million worth of heroin to John F. Kennedy Airport, according to the Queens District Attorney.

The dog, reported by NBC-NY to be mixed-breed Shepherd-type, was used to help the men hide ten bricks of heroin in the false bottom of a crate sent from Puerto Rico to JFK on last Friday.

“It’s alleged that man’s best friend was used in an attempt to smuggle drugs into the city,” district attorney Richard Brown said. “But great police work led to the seizure of more than 10 kilograms of heroin concealed within a dog crate.”

Bronx resident Samuel Seabrooks, 35, and Carlos Betancourt-Morales, 27, of Putnam County, were charged with drug possession and conspiracy.

The pair are accused of meeting up at a Bronx diner on Friday before taking separate cars to American Airlines Priority Parcel Services at JFK Airport.

Betancourt-Morales then went to sign for the dog — and the heroin — and was stopped by police as he was pushing the crate toward the exit.

A search warrant was executed on the dog crate Saturday. Police found 10 brick-formed packages of heroin labeled with the Nike Swoosh and a five-pointed star.The NYPD’s Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad was also part of the bust.

Both defendants were arraigned Sunday night before a Queens Criminal Court judge who set bail at $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash for each defendant. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison.

The dog was turned over to the ASPCA.