Cat detained for smuggling heroin into Sri Lankan prison, then escapes from cell

A prison official later said that the cat "had not escaped or gone missing" and was later found roaming near the prison's ration room.

The ginger cat’s photo caught by the police officers in the jail premises went viral on social media. (Source: Welikada Prison)

A cat in Sri Lanka first broke into, and then out of a prison to make headlines globally. The cat was caught being used to smuggle drugs and SIM cards in a high-security prison, but it later escaped.

Jail officials caught the cat roaming inside the high-security Welikada Prison on August 1, a Sri Lankan police official told local news media. Tied around the cat’s neck was a small plastic pouch that contained nearly two grams of heroin, two SIM cards and a memory chip.

However, a day after it was caught, the cat managed to escape out of the cell in which it had been kept, said a report in Aruna, a local newspaper.

Photos of the feline smuggler took social media by storm and the news of its escape took social media by story. Here’s how people reacted to the news:

pic.twitter.com/TLcQw5tmQn

— ᏕᏗᎷᎮᏗᏖᏂ❣️🌷🗄 (@SaMpAtH34753881) August 3, 2020

pic.twitter.com/wzD8bC3lSC

— Gihan Kavinda (@gihan_kavinda99) August 3, 2020

Did they get his prints before he made hisget away? pic.twitter.com/N35WeJ82gl

— merbo (@quicares) August 3, 2020

Nope. That would be catcalling.

— Emil (@ecwx48) August 3, 2020

pic.twitter.com/uTfHyXjzoI

— 윤 (@inretrospects) August 3, 2020

Video proof is also available 😂

xD

— Rachit Somani (@SomaniRachit) August 3, 2020

Don’t feel safe anymore with dreaded criminals like these roaming around freely.. pic.twitter.com/YBOGH6fW8v

— Anid (@annoyinglyanid) August 3, 2020

When they ask the cat who those drugs are for: 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/xlqc0y5GTD

— Tian El📎Resist. (@Tian_El) August 3, 2020

Be on the lookout 🐈 pic.twitter.com/QPPCWPbx6R

— Steve Berkowitz (@steveberkowitz) August 3, 2020

Cat supplying “Meow Meow” to the inmates

— jailor saab (@moolchandtweets) August 3, 2020

On Monday, a Colombo Gazette report quoted Chandana Ekanayake, the Commissioner (Operations) of the Department of Prisons, as having said that the cat “had not escaped or gone missing” and was found roaming around the prison premises, especially near the ration room.

Ekanayake was reported to have said that people are going to great extents and employing different methods to smuggle narcotics to prisoners ever since visitors have been barred from visiting, due to the pandemic.

The report said that since the new restrictions were imposed there had been a rise in parcels with narcotics and other items being thrown into the prison over its boundary walls.