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Show USE PIGEONS TO SMUGGLE DRUGS New Problem Presented as Birds Bring Dope Over Mexican Border. San Antonio, Texas. Carrier pigeons have been added to other dumb smugglers which must be watched by the federal customs officers of-ficers along the Mexican border and narcotic ollicers here. The birds are being extensively used for smuggling narcotics Into this country, coun-try, It was declared by customs in speetors here, and are proving the most difficult problem for the ofB clals to solve. Dogs, donkeys, nnd even cattle have been used to smuggle "dope" in the past, but it was dec-hired thai only recently have pigeons been em ployed to any extent. Of course, the amount of the drugs that one bird can carry Is small, but a small aluminum capsule attached to each leg Is said to contain from $5 to $10 worth, depending on the kind and the undercover market prices The officers' attention was firsl attracted to the birds when n San Antonio pigeon fancier, whose name the officials declined to divulge, di-vulge, Informed them that a pigeon sold by him several months ago had returned home with a capsule attached at-tached to each leg. Investigation showed the capsules contained cocaine. co-caine. The fancier explained that he had sold twenty pigeons some time before to a Mexican whose name he did not remember. No record was made of the sale. One Avoid3 New Home. The fancier aided the officers In attempting to trace the bird without with-out success. He explained that the purchaser no doubt had taken the birds to some place In Texas and confined them in a loft until he believed be-lieved they were "broken" to the new home and would return there when released. They were then sent to Mexico, there laden with "dope" and released. The bird which returned to Its former owner's loft is said to have been an old one, and these are declared de-clared to be very hard to "break" fo another loft. The others were younger and no doubt returned to their new home, each with Its cargo car-go of narcotics, it is believed. The fact that San Antonio Is the center of an active pigeoD racing association complicates the work of the officers. No races are flown from Mexican points, It Is said, on account of fast-flying falcons In that country which have caused the loss of many birds in former years when San Antonio and Monterey fanciers held two-way races. These races were abandoned on account of the falctins. There has always . been some trade with Mexico in homing pigeons, In spite of the danger from falcons in that country, and shipments ship-ments across the Rio- Grande from San Antonio caused no suspicion until It was found that they were being used for smuggling. Even now officers said It is hard to keep track of shipments of birds, although al-though Mexican officers co-operate in the work. Birds shipped to border bor-der points are easily smuggled to other points and released. Birds Sound Alarm Clock. Once the birds are released, Intercepting In-tercepting them is said to be Impossible. Im-possible. A flying pigeon Is a com- mon sight anywhere, and the homing hom-ing variety does not stop until It reaches .ts home loft. It enters the loft through a trap equipped with an alarm clock, and the owner can detach the contraband imme diately, and It Is easily hidden. Shotguns would not avail against the birds, even if the border patrol should see them while in flight. The carrier on long flights is always out of range of even heavy shot, and even in range their speed would make them a difficult target. The border is being watched for shipments of pigeons, but officers are confident as many are smuggled across as are shipped openly. It is an easy matter to confine 100 birds in a basket and ship them across the Rio Grande, It was declared. Once across the work Is easy. The unerring homing instinct of the pigeons does the trick. Smugglers F.aise Own Birds. Officers point out that as far as they know only one bird has been found with the goods on It and that was the one that returned to its former home. Thousands have been shipped across the border, It was declared. The more trips the bird makes, the better for the smugglers smug-glers they become. After a pigeon has been flown over the same route two or three times, It will be off like a shot as It is released. If the territory in which the bird is released is strange to it, some time will be lost in getting orientated. Officers here have requested pigeon fanciers to keep records of |