Police in Kuwait have apprehended a pigeon said to be carrying a knapsack full of drugs on its back, BBC News reports. A total 0f 178 pills were said to have been discovered in the small fabric pocket on the animal, which was caught near a customs building in Abdali, close to Iraq. According to local newspaper Al-Rai, the pills were said to be ketamine, which is used as an illegal party drug.
- This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Authorities have always known that criminals have used birds to transport their drugs, but it’s believed this is the first time one has actually been caught in Kuwait. However, police in countries such as Costa Rica and even Colombia have apprehended pigeons transporting illegal drugs as far back as 2011.
- How do they even know where to go? I know homing pigeons can return to a specific location, but you have to imagine that someone has somehow managed to train these birds to transport the drugs to a specific location over a long distance. It’s an innovative approach, for sure, but I can’t imagine how often it goes wrong. Apparently, pigeons can take things hundreds of kilometers away!
- Obviously, someone will be missing out on a delivery. While it hasn’t been revealed how customs authorities managed to catch the pigeon in question or how they even knew what was on its back, needless to say there’s going to be a very angry person waiting for a delivery that never comes on the other end!
- It’s unlikely this practice will stop anytime soon. Sure, they managed to catch this pigeon, but something tells me this isn’t necessarily a rare occurrence and that for every bird that’s caught, dozens or potentially hundreds of others manage to get their cargo to its intended location.
