A pigeon caught with a “backpack” full of drugs in a British Columbia prison
Prison guards in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia are already on high alert for potential threats including drones dropping contraband to waiting convicts and drug smugglers sneaking in through the walls.
John Randle, president of the Pacific Region for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, told “A pigeon was located at Pacific Institution, inside the walls, and it appeared to have a small package, sort of like a backpack attached to it,”
He said that crystal meth was inside the bag.
On December 29th, an incident reportedly occurred at the Abbotsford Federal Correctional Institution, which houses both high and low security inmates.
According to Randle, the pigeon was discovered in close proximity to one of the school’s leisure yards.
“It was spotted by correctional officers, I believe, and security intelligence officers when the officers were doing their standard patrols around and throughout the unit and institution, that’s when they initially spotted the bird with the package on it,” he explained.
“And then, of course, I believe there was some creative work – because the bird moved around quite a bit – in order to track it and capture it. But it was just outside one of the unit yards when it was first spotted.”
The problem of contraband has arisen in the past, Randle said, with drones or something being tossed over the wall, but in his 13 years of experience, he has never heard of birds being used to carry things into a jail.
The criminal element, he continued, “It’s almost like the inmates and the criminals are going back in time and using older technology,”
A drone may have accidentally dropped a firearm onto prison grounds in November, prompting authorities to close down Mission Institution for several days.
When police found a drone but no firearm, they released the lockdown.
Randle said that, not just in British Columbia but all across Canada, keeping narcotics out of jails has grown to be a significant portion of correctional officials’ daily tasks.
“Especially with drones and throw-overs, the drug problem is growing on a daily basis,” he said. Definitely drones have been the major thing for us, but this pigeon thing adds a new dimension to it and we’ll be on the watch for it.
He also said that investigators don’t know for sure if someone within the prison was teaching the bird or if it came from outside.
Randle stated that more personnel and patrols have been added to keep an eye out for any drops. He also mentioned that they had radar-like anti-drone technology.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Prison Service have begun their joint investigation.
Randle claimed the bird was released this time without its belongings.