20-05-2025
'Narco cat' with crack cocaine and marijuana strapped to it caught smuggling drugs into prison
Prison guards have discovered a 'narco cat' roaming around a Costa Rican jail with marijuana and crack strapped to its body.
According to a statement on Facebook from the country's Ministry Of Justice, officers at the Pococi Penitentiary spotted the unlikely smuggler on prison grounds on May 6 before capturing it.
Prison staff were suspicious of gray patches they spotted on the feline's fur and decided to take a closer look.
The odd looking patches turned out to be bags filled with narcotics - including a bag containing 236 grams of marijuana, and another containing 86 grams of crack cocaine.
Footage shows the moment prison officers spotted and caught the feline felon as it climbed a tree on prison grounds.
A separate clip shows how authorities carefully removed the illegal substances from the cat's body.
Once removed from the animal the drugs were seized by authorities and the cat was handed over to the National Animal Health service for an evaluation.
The Free Press Journal reported that it is common for animals to be used to smuggle narcotics into Costa Rican prisons.
Prisoners reportedly use food to lure the animals to them after they have been loaded with drugs by people on the outside.
The incident comes four years after authorities in Panama intercepted a fluffy white cat carrying an assortment of drugs in a pouch tied to its body as it tried to enter a prison.
The animal was stopped outside the Nueva Esperanza jail, which houses more than 1,700 prisoners, in the Caribbean province of Colon, located north of the capital Panama City, in 2021.
At the time, Andres Gutierrez, head of the Panama Penitentiary System said: 'The animal had a cloth tied around its neck' that contained wrapped packages of white powder, leaves and 'vegetable matter.'
Officials confirmed that they were likely cocaine, crack, and marijuana.
The 'narco cat' incidents come after the country's president, Rodrigo Chaves, took another step in his shift toward a tough-on-crime stance, announcing plans to build a new prison modelled on the maximum security prison in El Salvador.
In addition to building a new prison, Chaves said small shops selling things inside existing prisons would be shut down.
He also said permission for conjugal visits would be restricted and authorities would tighten the ability of families to bring food to inmates.
The restrictions were aimed at stopping drugs being brought into prisons and other illicit activities.
