THIS is the moment a squawking parrot named Mango helped bring down a massive drug operation.
The pet was captured on video saying “two for 25” – a reference to a street deal price for crack cocaine.
Mango was also filmed playing with cash the gang had made from their operation.
The videos were discovered on a phone belonging to Shannon Hilton, whose boyfriend Adam Garnett was in jail.
Garnett had been running the network from his prison cell using smuggled phones and Wi-Fi routers.
Hilton was also filmed making video calls to her lag lover while blocks of cocaine could be seen in the background.
The couple were among 15 members of the gang jailed for a total of 103 years after they admitted drug offences.
Preston Crown Court heard Garnett kept in touch with his associates despite already being behind bars.
The gang would then carry out orders across Blackpool between February 2023 and July 2024, trafficking Class A and B drugs – including heroin, crack cocaine, cannabis , and ketamine.
When officers launched a probe, they discovered the incriminating footage on Hilton’s phone.
This included her teaching Mango to say the drug lingo while children were present and a clip of the bird counting its owner’s ill-gotten gains.
Clips from other gang members showed raps about drug money, stashes of heroin and ketamine and large sums of cash being flaunted.
Officers raided their homes and discovered large quantities of drugs, cash, and phones all linking the gang to one another.
Garnett was jailed for 19 years and six months after admitting two counts of conspiring to supply class A drugs.
Girlfriend Hilton was jailed for 12 years for two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and possession with intent to supply Class B drugs.
Blackpool Police said: “What’s the most talented thing your pet can do? Sit? Give paw? How about speak?
“One drug dealer’s parrot learned to say ‘two for 25’ – a phrase picked up as part of common language used by the organised crime gang run by her boyfriend. Not a phrase you want your parrot squawking when the police come knocking!
“Last week, they, and thirteen others were jailed for more than 103 years. As Mango the parrot played with illegally gained money, the gang members rapped about their drug dealing, boasting of their criminal exploits.”
