Drones flood Canadian prisons with contraband despite costly countermeasures

Federal prisons across Canada are facing a surge in drone smuggling operations, with authorities documenting hundreds of illicit drone flights despite investing over $1 million in countermeasures.

Blacklock's Reporter says internal Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) memos detail the increasing use of drones to drop contraband, from drugs and weapons to cellphones and alcohol.

“The number of weapons, drugs, alcohol, cellphones and other contraband items entering Canadian prisons is an ongoing security concern with increasing occurrences,” CSC previously stated in a notice titled Preventing Contraband Delivery Via Air And Ground.

“These items pose a risk to the safety of inmates and correctional staff.”

In an effort to combat the problem, wardens allocated $1.15 million to develop a technology capable of detecting and intercepting drones over penitentiaries. However, CSC’s Drone Updates continue to report drone sightings and package drops, typically containing “tobacco, marijuana and cellphones.”

“Drones in particular are seen as an emerging risk due to their increasing capabilities and decreasing costs, making them an easily accessible means of introducing contraband into an institution, creating diversions or covert surveillance,” wrote the Correctional Service.

One prison recorded 32 drone drops in under a year, with an estimated $459,355 worth of contraband recovered.

Reports describe night flights at heights of “about 150 to 200 feet above the ground.” In one case, a drone crashed into a prison wall, scattering debris into the yard where officers retrieved it. Another report detailed officers hearing a drone overhead, then witnessing an inmate attempting to conceal a dropped package.

“A drone was seen hovering above the facility for about 10 to 15 minutes,” stated one report. “A suspicious vehicle was located in the vicinity of the establishment and when the patrol went up on the roof to do a check, they saw the drone. The drone was described as having white lights and was flying at a height of less than 1,000 feet.”

Prison lockdowns typically followed drone sightings, and in some cases, the RCMP were called in to search recovered drones for fingerprints. Despite these efforts, authorities have struggled to keep up with the evolving tactics of smugglers.

Don Head, former CSC Commissioner, previously testified before the Commons public safety committee in 2015 about other methods of smuggling contraband into prisons. “It’s a challenge,” he admitted.

“We’ve seen an increase in the introduction of drugs through indirect means, such as drugs being tied to arrows and being shot into the yard,” said Head.

“We’ve seen tennis balls that have been hollowed out and launched through grapefruit gun kinds of things, with drugs being shot into the exercise yards. We’ve even seen dead birds whose insides have been removed and have been launched into the yard with drugs inside to make it look like a bird has fallen from the sky.”

An estimated 70% of federal inmates are classified as substance abusers upon entering prison, and CSC conducts approximately 2,400 drug seizures annually.