Homing pigeon caught with cannabis and cocaine inside a Costa Rica prison

In a first for Costa Rica prisons, a pigeon was caught in its grounds with cocaine and cannabis. The bird was seen landing in the central concourse of the medium security La Reforma jail in San Rafael de Alajuela and was apprehended by the guards who took it into custody.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 14 August 2015.

The drugs were inside a tiny zipped up pouch strapped to the bird’s chest. The seizure was of about 14g of cocaine and at least the same amount of cannabis – its street value of around £180 ($281). The drugs were inside the pouch and wrapped in plastic.
It was the first time that Costa Rican authorities have come across this practice but such cases have been reported earlier in Argentina in 2013 and in Colombia in 2011. In fact, use of a pigeon is nothing new. Drug traffickers have used cats and dogs to pass drugs to prisoners.
During the Second World War, thousands of homing pigeons were used to send messages between front line Allied troops and top brass because these birds can be trained to travel several miles with small loads, according to the Royal Pigeon Racing Association.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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First case of drone used to smuggle drugs and weapons into high-security British prison

#DJIPhantom #prisonsecurity #drones It was the first instance of a night-time attempt of a drone being used to smuggle drugs and weapons into a high-security British prison. The prison was the Bedford Prison and the attempt was thwarted when the machine became entangled in razor wire on a security wall and spotted by the prison staff.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 22 March 2015.
The drone was made in China and was carrying a package that contained drugs, mobile phones, screwdrivers and a knife. It was a DJI Phantom 2 Vision and its weight was just 2.5lbs and it had a range of nearly half a mile. Moreover, it was fitted with a wide-angle camera and procuring one of these is not difficult – it is easily available online or at an electrical retailer for around £900.
These miniature aircraft are already a major concern to the police, who want to be given powers to seize them if they suspect they are being misused. The jail has a capacity of around 500 inmates.
Incidentally, Adam Bailey, of the Association of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, has expressed his opinion that drones make noise and trying to get stuff into prisons by using drones is impractical. A drone sounds like a swarm of bees and has flashing lights – hence, it would be visible.
It may be recalled that drones have been widely used in countries like the United States and Canada to fly drugs into prisons and in October a miniature helicopter packed with pills had crashed into a net guarding the exercise yard of an Irish jail.

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