Drug-carrying pigeon in Canadian prison yard

In a scheme straight out of the Middle Ages, authorities at the Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, a correctional facility about 50 miles from Vancouver, reported late last month in the prison yard “the capture of a pigeon with a tiny knapsack full of illegal drugs.” according to Yahoo.

Yahoo reports that a “tiny cloth backpack attached to the pigeon contained crystal meth” and that prison guards “discovered the bird and its cargo in one of the facility’s recreation yards on Dec. 29.”

“I believe it was spotted by correctional officers and security intelligence officers as officers were conducting their standard patrols in and through the unit and institution when they first spotted the bird with the package on it,” said John Randle, a spokesman for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers said as quoted by Yahoo. “The officers then set a trap to capture it.”

The Canadian Broadcasting Company has more on the daring capture:

“The officers stood in one of the fenced prisoner yards that the prisoners regularly use to hang out, play or just catch their breath. Then officers noticed something strange: a gray bird with a small package on its back. “As far as I know, it was attached to it in a manner similar to a small backpack,” Randle said. The officials approached. “They had to corner it,” Randle said. “You can imagine what that would look like if you were trying to catch a pigeon.” After “a long period of time,” officials located the bird, removed its charge, and released it. Randle said the package contained about 30 grams of crystal meth, which he described as a “fairly substantial” amount of the highly addictive stimulant. “It’s definitely scary that crystal meth was found on the bird because it’s causing a whole lot of problems,” he added. Corrections Canada confirmed this in an email it is investigating but declined to provide further details.”

There are precedents for this type of fowl game.

In 2017, customs officials in Kuwait captured a pigeon also carrying drugs in a miniature backpack.

“A total of 178 pills were found in the cloth bag fastened to the back,” the BBC reported at the time, citing the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Ra’i.

“The bird was caught near the customs building in Abdali, near the border with Iraq,” the BBC said. “An al-Rai journalist said the drugs were a form of ketamine, an anesthetic also used as an illegal recreational drug. Abdullah Fahmi told the BBC that customs officials already knew pigeons were being used for drug smuggling, but this was the first time they had caught a bird in the act.”

There was a similar story from Argentina the same year, where police there “shot and killed a carrier pigeon as it flew into a prison and then found a stash of cannabis and other contraband in a tiny backpack sewn to its feathers.” , according to the British. That was reported by The Independent newspaper at the time.

“Officials at Colonia Prison in Santa Rosa, La Pampa, became suspicious after noticing the bird was circling around the building for several days,” the newspaper reported. “After drinking it, they discovered 7.5 grams of cannabis, as well as 44 pills of the tranquilizer Rivotril and a USB stick.”

“The method is also the most common method used to smuggle drugs into the federal prison in Buenos Aires, authorities said,” added The Independent.