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

In New South Wales, 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 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.

New South Wales Prison Officials Thwart Drone Drug Drop At Cessnock Jail 1

According to prison officials, such drone deliveries have become more common since the 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.

New South Wales Prison Officials Thwart Drone Drug Drop At Cessnock Jail

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Haye Kesteloo
Haye Kesteloo

Haye Kesteloo is a leading drone industry expert and Editor in Chief of DroneXL.co and EVXL.co, where he covers drone technology, industry developments, and electric mobility trends. With over nine years of specialized coverage in unmanned aerial systems, his insights have been featured in The New York Times, The Financial Times, and cited by The Brookings Institute, Foreign Policy, Politico and others.

Before founding DroneXL.co, Kesteloo built his expertise at DroneDJ. He currently co-hosts the PiXL Drone Show on YouTube and podcast platforms, sharing industry insights with a global audience. His reporting has influenced policy discussions and been referenced in federal documents, establishing him as an authoritative voice in drone technology and regulation. He can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo.

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