A cat detained at a Sri Lanka prison after being caught with heroin and two SIM cards has escaped, it has been reported.
The feline was detected by jail intelligence officials on August 1 at the high-security Welikada Prison, a police official said.
He said nearly two grams of heroin, two SIM cards and a memory chip were found in a small plastic bag tied around the cat's neck.
Police believe the cat was trained by the same drug traffickers linked to a recent case involving an eagle that was found transporting drugs in a suburb of Sri Lanka’s capital city, Colombo.
The accomplices were associated with the underworld crime boss Angoda Lokka, according to The Daily Beast.
Lokka died while hiding from the authorities in early July, according to local media.
Investigators were hoping the cat would lead them to the smugglers' den but the feline escaped from its prison room when the guards came in to feed it.
It is believed the feline escaped through a fence.
The facility has reported an increase in incidents involving people throwing small packets of drugs, cell phones and phone chargers over the walls in recent weeks, The Telegraph reports.
There was no immediate comment from prison authorities.
However, Yahoo News reported police will not be looking for the cat.
Twitter users hilariously reacted to the news of the cat’s escape.
One person wrote: "Don't feel safe anymore with dreaded criminals like these roaming around freely."
Another added: "I'm having a difficult time defending this cat's poor life choices, although the narrow escape gives me hope he'll turn his life around."
Chandana Ekanayake, the Commissioner of the Department of Prisons, said that during the pandemic inmates had been going to extreme lengths to smuggle narcotics as visitors are no longer allowed to the prison.
