vancouver –
A prison union spokesman says a pigeon carrying a miniature backpack full of drugs was caught last week at a correctional institution in British Columbia.
John Randle, Pacific regional president of the Canadian Correctional Officers Union, said the bird was being held at the Pacific Institute in Abbotsford, 80 kilometers east of Vancouver.
He said a canvas backpack strapped to the pigeon contained crystal methamphetamine.
Randle said officials told him the gray bird was spotted with its unusual load on Dec. 29 in the facility’s yard, and they set a trap to catch it.
Davinder Aujla, assistant warden at the Pacific Institute, confirmed there had been a “recent seizure of contraband” at the facility and the matter was being investigated.
Randall said prison officials have been on the lookout for drones carrying drugs and other contraband in recent years, but this is the first time in his 13 years as a prison officer he has heard of a live bird being used.
“My initial reaction was shock at all the advances in technology and the number of drones we’ve seen. The fact that he’s tied to a pigeon is abnormal,” Randle said.
He said smugglers would have a hard time getting a bird to land in a precise spot compared to a drone.
But he suggested they had gone “old school” because of officers’ growing awareness of drug-smuggling drones, which he said were encountered daily.
“They’ve gone backwards in technology, maybe it’s because of all the work we’ve done with blocking drones that they’re trying to find new ways to get contraband in without being detected.”
Using a pigeon creates investigative difficulties compared to drones, Randle said, because the drone’s precision makes it easier to determine the intended recipient of the contraband.
He said the case was an indication of how creative criminals are becoming in drug smuggling, which should be a “serious problem for everyone”.
“The introduction of drugs into federal prisons is becoming a huge crisis. The whole purpose of prisons is to rehabilitate and release people into society as law-abiding citizens, (so) the introduction of drugs is scary, and especially a drug like crystal meth.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on January 6, 2023.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
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