The number of drones seen carrying drugs into prisons soared to more than 1,000 last year as police waged a “constant battle” against gangs flying in cocaine and cannabis from miles away.
Official figures reveal the number of drone incidents at prisons in England and Wales has risen almost tenfold since 2020, climbing to 1,063 incursions last year.
The Ministry of Justice has attempted to fight back against the often-brazen deliveries – which can even include household items like shower gel and tomato ketchup – by introducing new counter-drone laws in January.
But the huge value of drugs behind bars, where they can fetch three to five times their street value, has made it a serious supply route for organised crime groups.
Figures published by the Ministry of Justice reveal that the number of drones sighted or reported around prisons in England and Wales more than doubled between 2022 and 2023. Last year’s total of 1,063 incidents was also more than double the total recorded between 2019 and 2021, in a sign of how the aerial smuggling route has taken off.
The true figures are likely to be much higher given many successful drone deliveries go undetected. Gangs have been known to fly more than £1m worth of cocaine and other drugs into a single prison over several night-time missions.
Robert Knight, the governor of HMP Manchester, said the 150-year-old prison needed help to tackle the “massive problem” of drugs being flown in.
Speaking after inspectors raised the alarm about “catastrophic levels” of drug abuse in HMP Manchester, Knight said: “We do not deny that it is a massive problem for us.” Knight said corrupt officers were also smuggling contraband into the Victorian prison but that the biggest threat was from drones.
Some prisoners have been known to use kettle filaments to burn holes in windows so aerial deliveries can be flown straight to their cells.
Det Supt Andy Buckthorpe of Greater Manchester police said it was a constant battle for authorities to keep up with the criminal gangs and their associates inside.
Buckthorpe said gangs were headhunting highly skilled drone pilots from the non-criminal world to ferry their huge cargo to prison cell windows in Amazon Prime-style deliveries.
Chris Rainford, a former fire service officer who trains police forces to use drones, said the phenomenon was really difficult for the authorities to tackle. “Some of the drones can go up to 10km [6.2 miles] so they [the pilot] could quite easily be sat in a car at least several hundred metres away, if not a mile or two miles away,” he said.
The more sophisticated drones, worth several thousand pounds, are about a metre wide and equipped with thermal imaging, allowing them to transport several kilograms of illicit goods under the cover of darkness.
New laws introduced in January made it a criminal offence to fly drones within 400 metres of any closed prison or young offender institution in England and Wales. Drone operators that break the rules could face fines of up to £2,500 while those found smuggling illicit items will face up to 10 years in prison.
Some prisons have introduced counter-drone technology to detect when unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are nearby but few, if any, are thought to actively block the devices from approaching.
Mike Smith, the air safety manager at Ruas Drone Training in Newport, south Wales, said one of the reasons for this was that signal blockers also interfered with technology such as CCTV and car key fobs.
Other air defences also have their limitations. Dutch police briefly tried using highly trained eagles to capture drones out of the sky but abandoned the trial because the birds were too unpredictable.
Smith said: “The problem with prisons is that serious and organised crime are generally one step ahead of most people – and they’ve got more money than anyone defending it has.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Prisons were left in crisis by the last government and figures like these demonstrate the need for robust action to get the situation back under control.
“Staff have worked hard with the police to stop drones and bring those criminals responsible to justice. But it is clear we must do more and we will announce further measures in due course so that prisons make better citizens, not better criminals.”
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