A homing pigeon is the latest in a long line of animals to be busted smuggling drugs into a Costa Rican prison.

Guards caught the feathered felon trying to fly into the medium-security La Reforma jail near the capital of San Jose on Tuesday.

It had a little bag strapped to its breast - which contained 14 grams of cocaine and 14 grams of marijuana.

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“They observed the bulge on the animal so they captured it and confirmed that it carried a bag with zipper and the drugs were inside,” said prison director Paul Bertozzi.

The bird is believed to have been trained by one of the inmates. It was caught after landing on a recreation area’s patio.

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And it has now ended up in custody at an animal refuge for 40 days, as prison bosses don’t want it repeating the scam.

It comes after cats and an iguana were used to bring drugs into other prisons.

Prison guards posted images of the pigeon carrying its illegal cargo online.

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(all pictures credited to Reuters)