The Justice Department has announced charges in a sophisticated criminal operation that used high-powered drones to deliver weapons, drugs, cell phones, and escape tools into federal prisons in east coast states.

Investigation Details

US Attorney William Keyes in the middle district of Georgia, along with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and FBI investigators in Atlanta, say the rogue drone operation led out of a former daycare in Macon, Georgia was a staging ground where multiple drones were launched on covert missions to deliver the contraband by air to 10 federal prisons at night.

The 17-count federal indictment alleges the group used at least six separate drones to deliver a wide-ranging array of contraband to federal prisons at least 38 times, including methamphetamine, synthetic marijuana, suboxone, cocaine, cell phones, tobacco, cigarettes, drug-infused papers, and even saw blades designed and intended to be used as weapons and to facilitate escape.

Prosecutors say in the indictment that inmates inside the prisons used illegal phones to help guide the drone pilots on the outside, sometimes even sending maps in real time to help the pilots deliver trash bags and astroturf stuffed with weapons, various narcotics, and cell phones.

Law Enforcement Response

The Bureau of Prisons used drone detection systems which alerted authorities with data including make and models and flight launch locations of the unmanned aerials to help pinpoint those involved in the high-tech scheme, which law enforcement says they tracked between 2023 and 2026.

On June 10, a grand jury in the Middle District of Georgia indicted twelve defendants on federal charges including trafficking for drug and firearms distribution. They are accused of spearheading the sophisticated drone-smuggling scheme at ten federal prisons throughout Georgia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.