A parrot has been arrested and taken into custody by the police after it almost jeopardized a police raid by tipping off drug dealers to the presence of police.
The parrot, who plays lookout for two crack-dealing suspects, repeatedly yelled: “Mamãe, polícia!” meaning “Mama, police!” when it saw police officers moving to raid the hideout.
According to Brazilian police in the state of Piauí, they encountered the unnamed parrot at the home of the two alleged crack cocaine dealers, perched inside a small brick one-story home with a windowless facade. Brazil’s R7 news channel reported that as police searched for the suspects, it seemed the lime-green bird knew exactly what to do.
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One officer involved in the operation said: “He must have been trained for this. As soon as the police got close he started shouting.”
The bird’s efforts were not successful, however. Footage of the raid’s aftermath aired by R7 shows police cataloging small bags of crack while the parrot sits obediently on a countertop next to a racecar helmet and a glass bottle. His apparent owners, a man, and a teenage girl were arrested, local newspaper Meio Norte reported.
The “trafficking parrot” (papagaio do tráfico, as news outlets are calling him) was also seen as an officer carried him out of the house on his fingertip, before placing him in a cage and taking him into the Teresina Police Department.
After the news went viral, Web users called for the release of the bird and an environmentalist named Jaqueline Lustosa told Meio Norte that she had gone to the police department in attempt to free the bird.
