“A joke is a very serious thing.”

Winston Churchill

Sunday August 17, 2025 — In Blackpool, England, a pet parrot named Mango inadvertently assisted authorities in dismantling a significant drug trafficking operation. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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“He who laughs last, laughs best.”

Le Lutrin (1674)
Nicolas Boileau
French poet and critic

The gang, led by Adam Garnett, operated between February 2023 and July 2024, distributing heroin, crack cocaine, cannabis, and ketamine. Despite being incarcerated, Garnett continued to manage the network using smuggled mobile phones and Wi-Fi routers.

The breakthrough came when police discovered videos on the phone of Garnett’s girlfriend, Shannon Hilton. These videos featured Mango repeating phrases like “two for 25,” a common street term for drug deals, and playing with cash linked to the illicit activities.

Further investigation revealed communications between Garnett and his associates, including Hilton, Dalbir Sandhu, and Jason Gerrand, which corroborated their involvement in the drug trade.

As a result, 15 individuals were charged and subsequently pleaded guilty to various drug-related offenses. Garnett received an additional 19 years and six months to his existing 15-year sentence, Hilton was sentenced to 12 years, and Sandhu to 10 years. Two individuals, Chloe Stott and Ryan Black, failed to appear in court and are currently wanted by authorities.

During his White House years, Reagan tasked the CIA to collect Soviet jokes — part of an effort to gauge public sentiment behind the Iron Curtain. One of Reagan’s favorites went like this:

An old Russian man walked into the KGB office one gray morning, looking very serious. He explained that his parrot had gone missing and insisted on filing an official statement.

The officer raised an eyebrow. “Surely this is not a matter for state security!” he said. But the man was adamant: “You must know, I fully disagree with everything he says!”

“Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain.”

Vladimir Putin

The joke captures the absurdity and paranoia of Soviet life, where even a talking bird could be considered politically dangerous, and ordinary citizens felt the constant need to prove their loyalty.

Yet, who is laughing now? Surely not the Coke Shark, his Vixen, and the 15 Zoo Monkeys…

Reagan tells Soviet jokes

REFERENCES

SOVIET JOKES FOR THE DDCI — CIA Website

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“A good joke is the closest thing to a truth bomb that exists in the world.”

Jon Stewart