Poor Dogs Forced To Swallow Bags Of Cocaine By Gangs Are Then Brutally Sliced Open And Left For Dead

An international drug trafficking gang forced dogs to swallow bags of cocaine and then brutally sliced the animals open to retrieve them. Police said they arrested 75 people across northern Italy and Rome for using the dogs in a drug scam - at least 50 were dead after being cut open.

Large breeds such as Great Danes, Labradors and Mastiffs were used by the gang to maximise their trafficking.

The suspects could face charges of criminal association, drug trafficking and illegal weapon possession, ANSA said. Human mules often swallow carefully wrapped packages of drugs or stuff them in to body cavities to keep them hidden as they smuggle them through airport security and across borders.

But if plastic pellets or condoms housing valuable consignments of Class A drugs burst in transit, the mules face an agonizing death.

This is not the first case of dogs being used as drugs mules - a few years ago a four-year-old sheepdog was flown from Colombia to New York City with cocaine sewn into its belly. Customs agents said the sheepdog had 10 cocaine-filled condoms sewn into its stomach as a way of smuggling the drug into the U.S.

Suspicious agents ordered X-rays after noticing the sickly condition of the dog. They then spotted the condoms, which apparently had caused an infection that kept the dog from eating.

Source: Daily Mail