Last Sunday night, the police arrested two men who were about to smuggle drugs into the Dordrecht penitentiary in the Netherlands using a DJI Phantom 4 drone and a telephone.
This is reported by the Dordrecht Police on Facebook. Employees of the institution had been watching the two men for a while via the camera system. The men have been handed over to detectives.
“Working on something” with DJI Phantom 4 drone
Police said the men had been under surveillance for some time “because they were doing something.” When the police came to investigate after an alarm by the prison staff, it turned out that a drone was on the ground with drugs, a charger, and a smartphone attached.
“All goods that are strictly prohibited in a penitentiary,” said Dordrecht Police.
The men initially denied having anything to do with the drone, but the officers did not fall for it. The two were arrested and handed over to detectives.
The drone with which the smuggling attempt was made is a DJI Phantom 4. It can carry more than 0.5 kg of extra weight. The LEDs were taped, probably to make the drone as invisible as possible in the dark.
Drone detectors and counter-drone methods
Drones are increasingly being used to bring contraband over prison walls. For this reason, the Judicial Institutions Agency is installing drone detection systems at all penitentiary institutions in the Netherlands.
Earlier, FNV Nederland (Dutch union) had already urged measures, including protecting personnel against smuggled weapons.
This article first appeared on Dronewatch and is written by Wiebe de Jager who is also a DroneXL contributor.
