Drones Used To Smuggle Drugs Into Prison

Daniel_Stuckey writes "Over the weekend, a 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of using a small quadcopter drone to smuggle an unknown quantity of illegal drugs into a prison in Melbourne, Australia. While it's certainly not the first time small-fry UAV technology has been used by a mid-level mule to airmail drugs into the clink, it does suggest a growing trend in the highest-tech of prison highs. Here, then, is a brief history of drone-assisted prison drug smuggling In November 2013, guards at Hull jail in Gatineau, Canada, spotted a small drone flying over the prison's walls [beware the autoplaying videos]. An exhaustive search of both Hull's grounds and the immediate vicinity turned up nothing by way of whatever contraband the drone might have been toting around.

Nevertheless, it didn't appear to be one-off incident 'This sort of thing happens often in prisons all across Quebec,' Stephane Lemaire, president of Quebec's correctional officers' union, told the Ottawa Sun. 'Usually the drones are carrying small packages of drugs or other illicit substances.' The problem, Lemaire added, is that 'the drone can be controlled from more than a kilometer away, and the [Hull] prison is surrounded by forest.'"

OMG, another season of Trailer Park Boys?

[Dr. Spork]

They already sold a trailer of weed to Canadian prison guards and smuggled weed into the US using a "drone" model train. This is exactly the sort of thing they would do! Bubbles buys a quadrocopter to play with, Julian figures out how to use it for selling drugs, Ricky crashes it, Trevor and Corey take the blame.

Re:That leaves an interesting idea.

[JaredOfEuropa]

I'm sure some criminals have already looked into the use of drones; R/C planes or quadcopters navigating by GPS are more or less off-the-shelf these days. They probably found them unpractical as they have a small payload and range.

Getting stuff across the border isn't all that hard for criminals anyway, unless you're talking really bulky stuff one has to truck in (booze etc). Even sending stuff by airliner isn't that hard; you're ok if you send 10 drug mules and 5 make it through. The quoted "street value" of seized coke is crap, its actual value at that stage is bugger all.

Re:Monitor the Airwaves

[Goaway]

Bluetooth is short range, and R/C uses audible signals on CB channel 14 or so.

Generally, these days RC uses the same 2.4 GHz band as Bluetooth, but not at Bluetooth energy levels or protocols. They tend to have a range of up to a few kilometers. Can probably easily be extended if needed.

But as others pointed out, these things are often quite autonomous and don't need a control signal anyway.

Re: If that the only crime a drone commits then go

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

Terrorists are dumb. That is the only thing saving humanity. Even people with half of an working brain can come up with ideas for tremendous destruction. But people smart enough to think them up are smart enough not to be conned into being a terrorist.

I am self censoring myself from giving you some trivial examples of how great harm can be done without undue risk to oneself, not because I am afraid terrorists will read slashdot and carry out these diabolical deeds. But because NSA might be reading it. :-)