Parrot taken into custody after warning drug dealers about police raid

Officers believe the bird was trained by its owners to keep lookout

A parrot has been seized by police after it tried to warn drug dealers of a raid in northern Brazil by shouting: “Mummy, police”.

The green-feathered bird started squawking as soon as officers arrived at a house in the Vila Irma Dulce neighbourhood of the city of Teresina.

“He must have been trained for that,” said one officer involved in the operation. “As soon as police got close he began shouting.”

The parrot was taken into custody, where he was photographed perched inside a chicken-wire cage, before being transferred to Teresina Zoo.

A Brazilian journalist claimed the bird appeared to have invoked its right to remain silent, adding: “So far it hasn’t made a sound.”

“Lots of police officers have come by and he’s said nothing,” said local vet Alexandre Clark.

Police claimed the bird’s owner, known as “India”, had been arrested twice for drug trafficking in the past.

Her husband, identified only as Edvan, 30, was arrested after crack cocaine was found in the house during the raid.

Their 16-year-old daughter, who was found with cannabis in her underwear, was released with a warning, according to Brazilian TV station Globo.

Drug traffickers have previously used birds, known as narcopalomas, to fly drugs into prisons in Costa Rica and Argentina.