Prison Guards Catch a Cat Smuggling Drugs Into a Russian Prison

Guards at a prison in western Russia got a big surprise this week when they caught a cat trying to smuggle drugs inside. The cat was found on Tuesday, July 21, near Correctional Colony No. 17 in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Officers discovered that someone had attached two homemade fabric collars to the animal, and those collars were stuffed with illegal drugs. It is believed that criminals on the outside planned to use the cat to deliver the drugs to prisoners.

Prison staff and a sniffer dog spotted the cat before it could get inside the building. The dog helped officers confirm that the collars contained narcotics. Workers carefully removed the collars, took the drugs, and made sure the cat was not hurt. After a health check, the cat was released back outside.

Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service shared the story on the messaging app Telegram. In their post, officials called the cat a 'mustachioed courier' and praised the officers for stopping the delivery. They wrote that 'vigilant officers prevented the attempt to transfer narcotics.' Authorities did not share details about who was behind the plan or exactly what type of drugs were found.

This is not the first time a cat has been used to try to smuggle drugs into a prison. Last year, police in Costa Rica caught a cat carrying drugs into the Pococí Penitentiary. An officer spotted the animal in the prison's green zone on May 6, 2025, and raised the alarm. A video shared on the country's Ministry of Justice Facebook page showed workers cutting packages of drugs that were taped directly to the cat's body. Officials said the cat was carrying about 236 grams of marijuana and nearly 68 grams of heroin.