Vet sentenced for implanting heroin in puppies as drug mules

A veterinarian who surgically implanted liquid heroin in puppies on behalf of Colombian drug traffickers has been sentenced to prison in New York.

U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue in Brooklyn and other law enforcement officials say Andres Lopez Elorez received a six-year sentence on Thursday.

The U.S. government says Elorez leased a farm in Medellin, Colombia, where he raised dogs and surgically implanted bags of liquid heroin in nine puppies for importation.

Elorez pleaded guilty in September to conspiring to import heroin into the United States.