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Prison Inmates Use Pigeons to Wing and Sling Drugs, Cell Phones

by Christine Whitney on June 27, 2008 at 07:02 AM



Between riots, fires, and overcrowding -- Brazilian jails are totally scary. But fascinating! People expect wild stuff to be happening in Brazil's prison system, and the inmates of Marilia, Sao Paulo, do not disappoint.

Recently, guards noticed an alarming increase in cell phones and drugs within prison walls. But where were they coming from? The prison has a high-tech security screening process that all visitors are subjected to, so it couldn't be Granny and Minha Filha muling those phones.

It was the pigeons! Under the guards' noses, inmates trained these rats of the air (on the prison roof, no less) and sent them off on special missions. Prisoners outfitted the pigeons with small cell phone pouches (pigeon backpacks!) that were filled with cell phones (appropriately) or drugs by contacts on the outside.
Just like Jim Jarmusch's film 'Ghost Dog!'

Guards wised up to the scheme when they "saw some pigeons struggling to fly," says Reuters. Though the guards are onto it now, this pigeon racket is a stroke of lo-fi brilliance. [Source: Reuters, via Textually]

Tags: brazil, cell phones, prison

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