Pigeon was caught in the yard of a Canadian prison with drugs, and was released

Canadian prison guards were stunned when they discovered a pigeon carrying a “backpack” containing banned substances in a prison yard in British Columbia, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported Friday.

The guards were in a fenced area used for the prisoners’ social and recreational purposes when an officer spotted a gray bird attached to its back.

“From my point of view, it attached to it in a similar way like a small backpack,” said John Randle, president of the Canadian Association of Corrections Officers of the Pacific.

The guards investigated but it took “a significant amount of time” to catch the perpetrator.

“They had to corner her,” Randall said. “You can imagine what that would look like, trying to catch a pigeon.”

The backpack was found to contain 30 grams (1.06 ounces) of the highly addictive crystal methamphetamine. Short for crystal methamphetamine, it is an illegal and powerful street drug that initially creates a false sense of happiness in the user before continued use begins to destroy the body.

“It’s definitely scary the fact that crystal methamphetamine was found on the bird because that causes a lot of problems,” Randall said.

Homing pigeons were previously used to ferry various items to prisons, but drones have taken the place of birds — last month a drone dropped a firearm on a Canadian penal mission institution.

But since the guards are looking for drones, it appears the pigeons have returned.

“We’ve been so focused on intercepting drones… Now we have to look, I think, at the pigeons again,” Randall asked.

While guilty, the drug-carrying pigeon was released unharmed and sent happy on its merry way.