A B.C. prison is probing a bizarre case of illicit drug trafficking, one that involves a pigeon.
On Dec. 29, officers at the Pacific Institution, a medium-security federal institution in Abbotsford, B.C., discovered a pigeon with a small package attached to it in a fashion similar to a “backpack.” The bird was found in a fenced yard where prisoners regularly spend leisure time,
reported CBC News.
The cargo contained about 30 grams of crystal meth, according to CBC.
Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) confirmed the interception of contraband to The Epoch Times but declined to provide further details, saying it is still investigating the incident. The CSC noted that it takes priority in using various tools for “
reducing the number of contraband items and illicit drugs“ in its institutions.
“There are a number of tools available that are used to prevent the flow of drugs into our institutions. These include searches of offenders, visitors, buildings, and cells using search tools including ion scanners and detector dogs,” it said in an email.
Concern About Drones
In recent years, drones have been a primary tool for smuggling illicit drugs or contraband into prisons across the country.In the past two months, there have been at least five cases of drone-related contraband being smuggled into Ontario’s correctional institutions, including the Collins Bay Institution (
Dec. 7, 2022), Joyceville Institution (
Nov. 26, 2022), and the Warkworth Institution (
Nov. 10,
Nov. 14 and
Dec. 2, 2022).
In early November, a drone was shot down by officers at the Mission Institution, a minimum and medium security federal institution in B.C., according to the
Vancouver Sun. The drone reportedly carried a variety of contraband, from mobile phones to illicit drugs.
Using Animal to Smuggle
John Randle, Pacific regional president of the Union for Canadian Correctional Officers, told CBC that, with the government growing increasingly vigilant about drone smugglers, traffickers might be turning back to the “old school” methods of using pigeons to deliver contraband.
“We’ve been focusing so much on drone interdiction ... now we have to look at I guess pigeons again,” Randle said, adding that he hasn’t heard of another use of live pigeons for smuggling in B.C. in his past 13 years of service.
“It’s a bit of a reality check for us that the creativity that people are going to use to try and smuggle drugs and other contraband into the institution is multifaceted.”
While this appears to be the first case of pigeon-related smuggling in the province in recent memory, the bird is among five animals smugglers have used for moving illicit items, others being cats, cattle, mice, and snakes, according to
Insight Crime, a U.S.-based think tank.
