Cat detained on illegal mission at Russian prison

Published 11:17 am Tuesday, June 4, 2013

MOSCOW — Inmates at Russia’s prisons have been known to bribe guards to obtain cellphones. But using cats as couriers?

Guards patrolling a prison colony in Russia’s north saw a feline on the fence and it seemed to be carrying something. On a closer look, they found a few cellphones and chargers taped to the cat’s belly.

The federal prison service said Monday that this happened on Friday at Penal Colony No. 1 near the city of Syktyvkar in the Komi province, 1,000 kilometers (some 600 miles) northeast of Moscow.

It wasn’t clear how the cat was supposed to drop off its loot.