In northern Brazil, a police raid on crack dealers resulted in the arrest of a parrot.
Press reports in Brazil claimed that the bird was trained to cry out, “Mum, the police! “when they see police activity in Vila Irmã Dulce, a low-income neighborhood in the scorching capital of Piauí state.”
The unnamed parrot was taken into custody on Monday afternoon when police raided a drug den that was being operated by a couple from the area.
Regarding the two-winged miscreant, “He must have been trained for this,” stated one of the operation’s officers. The moment the police approached, he began to yell.
The reporter stated, “So far it hasn’t made a sound… completely silent.”
Local veterinarian Alexandre Clark attested to the parrot’s lack of cooperation, saying, “Many police officers have come by and he’s said nothing.”
The drug-trafficking parrot, nicknamed “papagaio do tráfico” by Brazilian broadcaster Globo, was given to a nearby zoo where it would be trained to fly for three months before being released.
The bird joins an increasing number of animals—mostly reptiles—involved in the drug trade in Brazil.
During a raid on a favela in the western region of Rio de Janeiro in 2008, police confiscated two small alligators, alleging local gangsters had fed their enemies to the animals. The father of one of the accused gangsters, however, denied those claims, saying that his son’s group had attempted to do so in the past but the alligator had turned down their offer to eat the corpse.
