US prisons battle evolving drone technology used to smuggle contraband to inmates

COLUMBIA, S.C. – More drones are being detected flying implicit U.S. prisons than ever before, and national regulations marque it harder for authorities prisons to bash thing astir it.

Advancements successful drone detection exertion person shown a melodramatic summation successful airborne smuggling operations implicit U.S. prisons since 2018. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reported 479 drone incidents astatine national prisons successful 2024, a important emergence from 23 incidents successful 2018. Unlike the national government, states cannot sprout down a drone oregon jam its vigor frequencies. 

Joel Anderson, manager of South Carolina's Department of Corrections, said his squad is starring the federation successful processing drone detection systems. South Carolina reported 262 drone incursions implicit its prisons successful 2022, up from 69 successful 2019. 

"We get assaulted nightly," Anderson said. "We get assaulted astatine aggregate institutions astatine night."

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Within seconds of being alerted to a drone incursion, a drone effect squad scrambles to the determination of a payload drop. (Fox News)

Anderson has watched drone smuggling missions go much elaborate successful caller years. When smugglers archetypal went airborne, helium said drones lone carried astir 4 pounds and reached a apical velocity of 45 miles per hour. Now, monolithic heavy-lift drones traveling much than 75 miles per hr are hauling 25-pound duffle bags of contraband implicit situation fences. 

"At immoderate institutions, it'll beryllium nights conscionable 1 close aft another… They whitethorn person aggregate drops successful 1 night, conscionable flying backmost and distant to the controller and backmost to the institution," Anderson said. 

Most of the transgression drone pilots are erstwhile inmates who already person connections wrong and cognize the layout of the facility. Many inmates interaction them with amerciable cellphones obtained successful prison. 

Most of the time, Anderson said drone pilots volition effort to camouflage their payloads, making it harder to spot from a distance. 

"If they're lying connected the writer retired there, say, connected a greenish time during the summertime months, a batch of times they'll instrumentality duct portion and enactment writer connected it and laic it crossed the yard," Anderson said. "It's not casual to spot from here. You know, you person to beryllium close connected apical of it to beryllium capable to spot and observe it."

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A drone payload wrapped successful writer successful South Carolina. (Fox News)

South Carolina has developed a drone detection strategy for each of its mean and maximum information prisons. When a drone is implicit a facility, prime situation unit get a cellphone alert that a drone is successful the area. Seconds later, a dedicated drone effect squad scrambles to the determination of the drop.

Within minutes, the drone is retired of show unless it crashed oregon the prison's drone squad followed it backmost to the controller.

The South Carolina Department of Corrections uses a strategy that alerts circumstantial situation unit erstwhile a drone flies implicit a prison. (Fox News)

"We've had drones caught successful our nets. We've had drones caught successful our fences. We've had drones clang connected the yard. We've had drones wherever the artillery ran out," Anderson said. 

The drone squad confiscates disabled drones and pulls their in-flight records, which amusement investigators the drone's erstwhile flights, the paths it took and the images it created. 

The South Carolina Department of Corrections drone squad confiscates disabled drones earlier pulling their in-flight data.

Anderson said formation information tin pb instrumentality enforcement to a drone pilot's beforehand doorway for an casual arrest. 

"In immoderate cases, our crooks are truthful astute that they'll alert them successful their ain yards," Anderson said. "We had 1 alert and took a representation of his mailbox, and that's however we went and got him."

Currently, detection and confiscation is each states tin bash erstwhile a drone flies implicit its prison. The Federal Aviation Administration prohibits states from bringing down drones due to the fact that they are considered registered aircraft.

Anderson agreed that shooting down a drone could beryllium unsafe for radical wrong and extracurricular the situation due to the fact that they often transportation deadly drugs. 

"We picked up capable fentanyl, 1 instauration to termination the full situation strategy 1 time. Four 100 and sixty-four grams of fentanyl successful 1 container with 1 drone," Anderson said. "We would hatred to disable a drone, and it flies disconnected into a subdivision somewhere, and past we don't cognize wherever it is."

The Federal Aviation Administration prohibits states from taking down drones due to the fact that they are considered registered aircraft. State prisons tin lone observe and confiscate drones and their payload. (Fox News)

Anderson said drone smuggling wouldn't beryllium arsenic large of an contented if inmates didn't person entree to the amerciable compartment phones they wage radical thousands of dollars to smuggle in. 

The Federal Communications Commission is looking to let states to usage radio-jamming technology, which would forestall inmates from contacting radical extracurricular the situation walls.  

"I applaud our unit for being arsenic steadfast arsenic they are. They're bully astatine what they do," Anderson said. "I'd overmuch alternatively beryllium utilizing them successful the surviving areas, watching inmates, than moving astir retired present chasing amerciable packages, due to the fact that a batch of it is caused by these amerciable compartment phones that we person that springiness them nonstop connection with their counterparts extracurricular the fences."

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