Smuggling contraband by drone into Mansfield prison in Ohio

Ohio State Highway Patrol Troopers said that a Cleveland man was caught red-handed while smuggling contraband by drone into Mansfield prison in Ohio.

Smuggling contraband by drone into Mansfield prison in Ohio

Somebody had alerted the troopers late Saturday evening that a person was trying to fly a drone over to Mansfield correctional institution. The drone operator was eventually found by the investigators, who discovered that the unmanned aircraft contained a package with marijuana, cigarettes and cell phones that the drone pilot allegedly tried to drop into the prison yard.

“People are very creative in their attempts to get Contraband into the prison, and it's something that we're always looking to see what the newest latest method is. You know, drones have been around for a couple of years and we've been seeing them used to attempt to covey contraband into the prisons for a few years,” Lt. Craig Cvetan said, according to Fox 8.

The drone pilot is facing state charges that include illegal conveyance of contraband into a government facility, But it may not stop there. The suspect could also phase federal charges from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for allegedly flying the drone into restricted airspace near the Lahm Regional Airport in Mansfield.

Prison authorities are also trying to identify suspects inside the prison facility who might have worked with the drone pilot.

“We want to keep that contraband out of the prison because that presents an issue within the facility,” Cvetan said

Charges against the drone operator are pending.

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