Drone delivers drugs to prison, fight breaks out

Amazon is still carrying out tests on its drone delivery system, but it looks like some criminals have proved the concept is a workable one.

Officials in Ohio are looking for the owner of a drone that flew a package of drugs and contraband into a prison yard, starting a nine-man brawl. 

According to prison officials, around 200 inmates were in the yards of Mansfield Correctional Institution, 65 miles south of Cleveland, on 27 July when a quadcopter flew over its perimeter walls and dropped a package containing 144.5 grams of tobacco, 65.4 grams of marijuana, and 6.6 grams of heroin.

The prison guards only realised the drop off had been made when a fight broke out, attracting a large crowd of inmates. Pepper spray was used to break up the scuffle, before all inmates were evicted from the yard for strip searches, cell sensor scans and clinical checks. The nine men involved in the fight were put in solitary confinement.

Related: Someone strapped a gun to a drone, and it's terrifying

JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, told the BBC that this was the latest in series of attempts to deliver prison contraband via drones, and that steps were being taken to stop drones entering the grounds of the prison.

Sharpshooters mounted on perimeter walls, taking out any suspect-looking drones? Nets erected over all external yards? Smith didn't detail quite how they'd stop deliveries, but we can't imagine it'll be an easy task.

Maybe they could borrow that drone someone strapped a gun to? 

(Images: Shutterstock)

[Via: The Verge]