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A fight broke out at a prison in Ohio after a package containing nearly half a pound of drugs was dropped off in the recreation yard by a drone, report officials. The incident took place on July 29th at Mansfield Correctional Institution, with a spokesperson for the state, JoEllen Smith, telling local paper the Mansfield News Journal that the package contained 144.5 grams of tobacco, 65.4 grams of marijuana, and 6.6 grams of heroin. The fight was brought under control by prison officers using pepper spray, with the nine participants placed in solitary confinement and the package of drugs later retrieved. Surveillance footage showed a drone passing overhead just before the fight broke out.
drug delivery by drone is definitely a thing
According to a report from BBC News, Smith said that this was only the latest attempt to deliver drugs by drone, and that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction would be taking extra steps to prevent this happening in the future. Such incidents have becoming increasingly common as drones — specifically, quadcopters — have become more mainstream. In July last year, a drone containing marijuana, tobacco, and cell phones crashed into a fence at a maximum security prison in South Carolina, and in the UK in March, prison officials intercepted what they say was the first attempt to smuggle contraband by drone into a British prison. Similar incidents have also taken place in Australia.