23 people charged with alleged plans to drop drugs into prisons using drones

This week, 23 people were charged in Georgia with allegedly smuggling drugs and phones into prison using drones.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors announced charges against 23 people, mostly current or former prison inmates, on charges of using drones to bring prohibited items into prisons, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The indictment, which was unsealed on Tuesday, alleges that prisoners in the US state of Georgia hatched a plan to arrange for the delivery of prohibited items by drone to inmates outside.

“The primary charge in each indictment, conspiracy to possess marijuana and methamphetamine with intent to distribute and redistribute, carries a statutory penalty of 10 years to life in prison, along with substantial fines and at least five years of probation after serving the prison sentence. There is no parole in the federal system,” the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia said in a press release.

U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg said: “These charges identify networks of individuals determined to smuggle controlled substances and other contraband into prisons, endangering the safety of those incarcerated in these facilities and those who work there, as well as putting the outside world at risk.”

She added: “We are grateful to the numerous federal, state and local law enforcement agencies whose cooperative work uncovered these criminal activities.”

Federal prosecutors said all but six of the people named in the indictment were in prison at some point during the alleged smuggling scheme. The indictments detail text messages and Facebook messages exchanged between the defendants, including aerial photographs of prisons and photos of vacuum-sealed packages.

The indictment includes a text message from 2021 in which an inmate wrote: “Friday has to be after dark. I can't make it until the kitchen help goes out for breakfast.”

The indictment states that in 2023, another text message from an inmate read: “We can do 2 with one battery and 2 with another battery… I just need to know when you go and when the backpack drops.”

The public prosecutor's office said it had seized 21 firearms and ten drones during its investigation into the alleged plot.

“In addition to the conspiracy charges, several defendants are charged with unauthorized use of a communications facility. The indictment provides detailed information revealing the use of cell phones to coordinate the sale of drugs and other contraband, to direct the conspirators' activities outside of prisons, and to organize the delivery of contraband to prisons using drones,” the U.S. Attorney's Office said.