Police found the pigeon wandering around outside a prison with a suspicious-looking bag attached.

The bird was flying towards a jail in the north-eastern city of Bucaramanga when it was discovered nearby by officers with a bag strapped to its back.

Police recovered 40g of marijuana and 5g of a paste containing cocaine and believe the package was too heavy for the bird to clear the prison walls.

The Telegraph story also points out other cases of trained birds used in Columbia for security and transportation. A parrot was taught to say “run” when police approached.

The 45g of drugs is approximately 1.6 oz. It does not seem like a lot for a pigeon, since they weigh 10-16 oz themselves and are trained to fly with up to 70g (depending on distance and weather). I wonder how high the wall is.

Although the police called it ingenuity, it seems to me the parrot should have been taught a code word — anything less obvious than “run” — and the pigeons should have been sent more often with smaller amounts and in a flock. A single pigeon is an unusual sight, let alone with a backpack.

This reminds me of the case in Brazil where the pigeon was caught while it rested on a wire. Its backpack not only had parts for a cell phone, but also a note with the name of the intended recipient inside the jail. Not ingenious.