Parrot 'arrested' for helping drug dealers; not cooperating in probe

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"Pets are humans' best friends," all of us have heard this famous saying. But what if helping a friend lands you in a big trouble? An attempt to save its drug-dealing owners by alerting them to a police raid has landed a well-trained talking parrot in a Brazilian jail.

The parrot, named "papagaio do trafico" or "trafficking parrot" by local media outlets, was taken into police custody from the home of alleged crack cocaine dealers in northern Brazil's Piaui state.

Police say that the "super-obedient" bird was caught in action, while almost succeeding in warning its masters by repeatedly yelling "Mamae policia!" or "Mama, police!" as the officials chased their suspects.

"As soon as the police got closer he started shouting, he must have been trained for this," said a police official, who was involved in the operation, claiming that the lime-green bird knew exactly what to do, the Guardian reported.

Meio Norte, a local news channel, reported that the parrot's apparent owners have also been arrested. In video footage aired by Brazil's local news channels, the parrot was seen being carried out of the house while standing on the hand of a cop.

A police official carrying the parrot on his hand after a raid on alleged drug dealers in Piaui state, Brazil, April 25, 2019. /Courtesy of Programas Meio Norte via YouTube

According to local media reports, the police officials claim that the parrot is maintaining a stubborn silence since the arrest and "he is not cooperating in the investigation."

While commenting on the bizarre case, Kirean, a professional bird trainer for six years, told CGTN Digital that it's very easy to train such birds to be extremely obedient and use them for tipping off criminal owners in certain situations. "Birds can be trained to identify police officials, say for example using a particular type of shoes, uniform or group of people as a cue."

"The bird will not talk unless you build a bond with it, it will take at least two months or even more for a professional trainer to make the bird forget its previous owners," he said.

The police say the bird would soon be sent to a local zoo, where it would be trained how to fly.

But in Kirean's opinion it would an uphill task even for professional bird trainers since the bird is an adult. "We are talking about an adult bird here, if you try to give it a partner it may get violent, but if it accepts another bird as its life partner it may try to fly in order to chase her."

"However the trainers need to ensure that the parrot is not infected otherwise it may pose a risk for other birds," he added.

But this innocent bird is not the only one. In 2010 in Colombia, a parrot named Lorenzo grabbed international headlines after it was recorded while warning its owners "Run! Run!" in Spanish at the sight of police officers approaching. The bird was found guarding a cache of guns and pot.

"You could say he was some sort of lookout," a Colombian police officer said, according to the Associated Press

Colombian officials claimed then that Lorenzo was one of the 1,700 birds authorities had seized, believing they had all been trained to alert their owners if police approached, the AP reported.

A parrot seized during anti-drug raids in police custody in Piaui state, Brazil, April 25, 2019. /Courtesy of Programas Meio Norte via YouTube

Many drug lords own exotic "narco zoos." Since 2008 many cases of exotic animals and birds belonging to drug traffickers being seized have been reported in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and even the U.S. and Spain.

It is well known how wild animals such as lions, tigers, jaguars, big snakes, monkeys and exotic birds are kept as the symbol of power and strength in private zoos by drug cartels.

Away from their natural habitats, these wild creatures pay the price of their masters' flamboyant lifestyles and are often left in the lurch after anti-drug squads raid narco ranches and arrest their drug lord owners.

Authorities often keep them in captive local zoos to be later released in the wild, but it's hard to determine if their emotional scars ever heal.

"It's very difficult for such animals and birds to survive in the wild, since their whole life they are fed by hands. They are never accepted into a herd and may die of depression. Birds are the most sensitive of them all," Kirean told CGTN Digital.

(Cover: A police official carrying the parrot after a raid on alleged drug dealers in Piaui state, Brazil, April 25, 2019. /Courtesy of Programas Meio Norte via YouTube)