A parrot has been taken into police custody after it was revealed that the bird had been trained as a lookout for a Brazilian drug gang to alert them to the presence of authorities or intruders. The parrot’s abilities were discovered during a police raid in Vila Irmã Dulce, the capital of Piauà state, The Guardian reports. Thankfully, its warning didn’t ruin the whole operation!
- As soon as the police arrived, the parrot started squawking. The bird, whose name hasn’t been revealed, started shouting, “Mum, the police!” when authorities arrived at a drug den run by a local couple. Hey, at least he was doing his job!
- It was clear that this bird was properly trained. After all, a bird wouldn’t randomly alert someone that the police are around. “He must have been trained for this,” said one officer involved in the operation. “As soon as the police got close, he started shouting.
- Once the bird was arrested, it stopped talking. Even more hilarious, a local journalist who saw the bird face to face described it as “obedient” and said that once it was taken into police custody, it stopped talking altogether. So not only was the parrot trained as a lookout but it also knows better than to snitch. Alexandre Clark, a local vet, confirmed the parrot’s lack of speech, adding, “Lots of police officers have come by and he’s said nothing.”
- Now the parrot is going to get a new life. He was moved to a local zoo so that he could learn to fly before eventually being released back into the wild. He will no longer have to work for drug lords or spend his time worrying about the police turning up to disrupt things. Instead, he’ll get to live free and enjoy his days the way a parrot is supposed to.
- This isn’t the first time an animal has been used in the drug trade. It’s a big thing in Brazil, apparently. In fact, back in 2008, one gang even kept alligators, allegedly to feed their enemies to when they wanted to dispose of them. Scary!
