Guards at British Columbia’s Fraser Valley prison have to be on the lookout for drones trying to drop contraband on waiting inmates or someone trying to throw drugs over the walls, but a recent discovery has also caused some concern.
“A pigeon was located in the Pacific Institute, inside the walls, and it appeared to have a small package, sort of like a backpack, attached to it,” John Randle, president of the Pacific Region of the Canadian Correctional Officers Union, told Global News.
He said the package contained crystal meth.
The incident reportedly took place on December 29 at the maximum, medium and minimum federal prison located in Abbotsford.
Randall said the pigeon was found near one of the institution’s recreation yards.
“I believe it was noticed by corrections officers as well as security intelligence officers when officers were doing their standard patrols around and throughout the department and institution, that’s when they initially noticed the bird with the package on it,” he said.
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“And then, of course, I believe there was some creative work involved – because the bird was moving around quite a bit – to track and capture it. But it was just outside one of the courtyards when he was first spotted.
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Randle said they’ve had problems in the past with contraband, with drones or anything else being thrown over the wall, but in his 13-year career, he’s never heard of birds being used to smuggle anything into a prison.
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“It’s almost as if prisoners and criminals are going back in time and using older technology,” he said.
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In November, Mission Institution was locked down for days due to the belief that a drone may have dropped a firearm on the prison grounds.
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The lockdown was lifted when no gun was found, but officers did find a drone.
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Randall said keeping drugs out of prisons has become a huge part of the day-to-day work of correctional officers, not just in British Columbia, but across Canada.
“Especially with drones and aerial vehicles, the drug problem is growing daily,” he said. “The pigeon thing adds a new element to it for sure and we’ll be on the lookout for it, but definitely the drones are the big thing for us.”
He added that it is currently unclear to investigators whether someone inside the prison trained the bird or if it was someone outside the institution.
Randall said they’ve increased staffing and patrols to monitor for potential falls. He said they also have anti-drone technology that works like a radar.
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The Correctional Service of Canada and the RCMP have launched a joint investigation into the incident.
As for the pigeon, Randall said it was released, this time without the baggage.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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