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Ten accused criminals have been sentenced to up to seven years and two months in jail after it was revealed they had been smuggling drugs, phones or other contraband into UK prisons using drones.
In jail for armed robbery, Craig Hickinbottom, 35, was the captain of the operation, arranging the drone routes into the prison from behind bars.
According to the BBC, Hickinbottom and his colleagues transported around £1 million’s worth of goods into prisons across the West Midlands and Scotland, UK. 49 drone flights were recorded as part of the convictions, but police reckon the number is much higher.
The gang were caught on cameras outside one of the prisons, where two of the convicted were preparing a drone flight. The packages were later retrieved by inmates from within the prison.
On the list of smuggles items you can find drugs, phones, weapons, screwdrivers, sim cards, and TV services.
Judge Roderick Henderson said: "Prisons are difficult enough places to run - they contain people who are dangerous and vulnerable,” according to the BBC.
"Supplying things into prison that should not be there - drugs, phones, tools and the like - threatens proper management... and creates real risks of violence and loss of control and discipline, he concludes.
Police officials are calling this method of contraband transport a ‘gamechanger’. How do you think UK, and worldwide for that matter, authorities should confront the use of drones for illegal transportation?
