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Federal authorities catch 23 perpetrators in drug drop in Georgia prisons by drone

Nearly two dozen people have been charged with using drones to smuggle drugs and cell phones into prisons in George State, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

The Justice Department announced that 23 people have been charged in a conspiracy dubbed Operation Night Drop to deliver meth, marijuana and cell phones to inmates in Georgia state prisons. The charges range from possession of a controlled substance with the intent to resell to unauthorized use of a communications facility from 2019 to July 2024.

Six of the 23 defendants were not in prison at the time of the plot.

The Justice Department announced that the two indictments were unsealed on Wednesday.

“These indictments identify networks of individuals determined to smuggle controlled substances and other contraband into prisons, endangering the safety of those incarcerated and employed in these facilities, and also endangering the public outside of prisons,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia Jill Steinberg said in a press release.

The defendants are accused of coordinating deliveries via Facebook and text messages and of having aerial photographs of prisons, quantities and prices of drugs, photos of drugs, phones and drones, and the materials and packaging used for smuggling.

Court documents: Defendants agreed to exchange messages via SMS

In addition to the allegations of transporting illegal items into prisons, U.S. District Court documents show that the 23 defendants coordinated the delivery and receipt of the items.

In several cases, the defendants sent each other messages inquiring about their whereabouts, how to get into the prisons and what they were delivering there, court records show. Some of the conversations in the court records detailed how to circumvent flight restrictions and hide contraband in permitted items.

“The target is right in the middle of the yard… we don't have to worry about the police so we're not wasting time, this is a run and gun operation… Come here, take off, come over, reload, reload, reload, reload, reload and leave,” Deivon Waller wrote to Donald Pater on January 16, 2023, according to prosecutors. Both men are charged in the case.

During the arrest, ten different drones and 21 weapons were confiscated from some of the 23 people during the investigation, court documents say.

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter,@KrystalRNurse.

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