Colombian police have seized a pigeon which was being used to smuggle drugs into a jail.

The bird was attempting to fly into a prison in the north-eastern city of Bucaramanga with marijuana and cocaine strapped to its back.

The bird didn’t complete his journey though because the 45g package was too heavy for it.

The bird, which is thought to have been trained by inmates, is now being looked after by an ecological police unit.

“We found the bird about a block away from the prison trying to fly over with a package, but due to the excess weight it could not accomplish its mission,” said Bucaramanga police commander Jose Angel Mendoza.

“This is a new case of criminal ingenuity,” he added.

Carrier pigeons had been used in the past to smuggle mobile phone Sim cards into the jail.