Drone Carrying Marijuana, Oxycodone, and Cellphones Crashes in Prison Yard

Drone Carrying Marijuana, Oxycodone, and Cellphones Crashes in Prison Yard
File photo of a drone. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)
NTD Television
7/26/2017
Updated:
7/26/2017

A drone that crashed in the yard of a Washington State Prison was carrying a pound of marijuana, four cellphones, 31 Oxycodone pills, and 7.8 ounces of tobacco, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman told AJC.com on Wednesday.

The drone hit the ground at about 10:45 p.m. on Friday.

The cargo included four Samsung Galaxy J1 cellphones, 7.8 ounces of tobacco, a USB charger cable, a pound of marijuana divided into 16 individual bags and 31 oxycodone pills.

File photo of individual marijuana bags. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
File photo of individual marijuana bags. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

The Washington State prison system has struggled with contraband for years because inmates keep finding ways to elude authorities.

Cellphones and tobacco are forbidden in prisons, so inmates sell the items to each other at a major markup.

Samsung Galaxy J1 phone. (By JulianVilla26 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
Samsung Galaxy J1 phone. (By JulianVilla26 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Prisoners use cellphones to continue their criminal activity from behind bars. Officers in Georgia prisons alone seized 9,379 cellphones between July 1, 2016 and June 2017.

There is also a demand for drugs like Oxycodone and marijuana.

File photo of Oxycodone pain pills. (John Moore/Getty Images)
File photo of Oxycodone pain pills. (John Moore/Getty Images)

While drone drop-offs have become more common recently, the most common way to sneak contraband into prisons is to bribe prison guards. Friends and relatives also throw bags over perimeter fences. However, drones are a fast-growing approach, sometimes resulting in serious consequences.

Recently, a convict escaped a maximum-security South Carolina prison using wire cutters that were flown in by a drone, according to the New York Post. The felon was captured in Texas a few days later.

Prison authorities can only tell a drone delivery was made if bags are found stuck on fencing or in prison yards.

In 2013, four people were arrested in Georgia for using a drone to carry two pounds of tobacco, a cell phone, and binoculars to the yard at Calhoun State Prison. 

From NTD.tv