It's not the first report of a drone being used to deliver drugs or other contraband behind the walls of a prison (successfully or otherwise), but it looks like this is one 21st century occurrence that's only increasing in frequency. The latest incident comes out of Ohio, where the Mansfield News Journal reports that a drone was used to drop a package of drugs onto a prison yard at the Mansfield Correctional Institution on July 29th.

According to the paper, the package (which contained marijuana, heroin, tobacco) did make it onto the yard and was intended for one specific inmate, but it apparently sparked a fight after it was discovered, with nine inmates ultimately placed in solitary confinement after things were brought under control. 

The unidentified drone itself apparently made it away from the scene, and the Mansfield News Journal also reports that there were sightings of it around the prison both the week before the drop off, and on the Monday following the incident, although they note those sightings could not be confirmed.

Of course, while illicit use of drones may be on the rise, be it to deliver drugs or interfere with air traffic, we're also seeing a notable uptick in official use of the devices for range of tasks. Apart from Amazon's well-publicized experiments, Swiss Post recently began its own tests of drone deliveries, and the first officially approved delivery of drugs by a drone just took place last month in rural Virginia.

Via: The Guardian