New South Wales prison officials thwart drone drug drop at Cessnock jail

In New South Wales, Australia prison officials allegedly thwarted a drone drug drop at Cessnock jail. The contraband has an estimated value of AU$100,000.

New South Wales prison officials thwart drone drug drop at Cessnock jail

According to officials of the New South Whales Cessnock prison, plans for a drone delivery of contraband were thwarted. The drugs had an estimated value of AU$100,000.

In a car that was located close to the Cessnock Correctional Centre, Corrective Services officers found a drone with a string attached to a package, yesterday morning. Allegedly, the contraband package contained 108 buprenorphine strips and 42 buprenorphine tablets, according to ABC.net.

It was a brazen operation according to Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin.

“So they are trying new ways, lots of ingenuity there, and using drones, of course, is very modern technology, [it] is one of those ways to try to get it in,” he said.

Inside the prison, the value of a strip or tablet of the drug, also known as a “bupe” for short, is roughly AU$1,000.

According to prison officials, such drone deliveries have become more common since the coronavirus pandemic has prom[ted a visitor ban at jails.

“Since visits were canceled to correctional centers in March due to COVID-19, we’ve seen people increasingly using mail, drones, and tennis balls in an attempt to smuggle drugs into our prisons,” Mr. Severin said. “The good work by our correctional center staff in searching for and detecting contraband should send a clear message to these people that we are alert and you will get caught. Our officers are proactive and undertake daily contraband searches of inmates, cells, and common areas, these searches also focus on inmate mail and prison perimeter fences.”

Three people, a woman, 28, and two men, 22 and 19, have been apprehended in relation to the alleged failed drone drug delivery.

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