Smuggler drones are on the rise

Officers patrolled the area around the prison as part of Operation Airbourne (set-up to deter and catch offenders attempting to deliver contraband into the prison), and spotted a man acting suspiciously in the early hours of 13th August. The man fled the scene, evading arrest, but left behind two bags containing Class B drugs and mobile phones.

The following day police recovered a crashed drone and were later alerted to, and intercepted, another being flown towards the prison – both were found to be carrying Class B drugs, mobile phones and legal highs (novel psychoactive substances). No arrests have currently been made.

Incidents of drones being used to smuggle contraband into the nation’s prisons are on the rise, with figures showing 33 incidents in 2015, compared to two in 2014 and none in 2013. Earlier this month a woman in her 20s died in a car crash following a police pursuit by officers investigating a drone that was being flown near Wandsworth Prison.

And last month a man was jailed for 14 months after admitting conspiracy to project an article into a prison – the first person in the UK to be jailed for such a crime. Kent police stated that the 27 year old man used the remote control drone to smuggle items, including tobacco and the psychoactive drug Spice, into two prisons in Kent and one in Hertfordshire.

A spokesperson for the Prison Officers’ Association has stated that there are currently not the resources, means or know-how to deal with the growing problem. However, the Metropolitan Police did announce earlier in the year that it was looking at the use of eagles to intercept drones, currently being used by police in the Netherlands.