This is one of the main factors contributing to violence in prisons. Criminal gangs use drones to fly drugs and cell phones into cell windows.
But when London police tried to enforce a new law banning drones from a 400-metre prison, a less cunning fox led to a Keystone police travesty.
The incident took place near HMP Wandsworth in south London. Neighbors say they woke up to the sound of police trying to intercept a drone flying toward the prison.
One witness said the drone got stuck in a tree while trying to evade capture. Firefighters managed to reach and destroy the device, but before police could seize it, it was picked up by an urban fox who “quickly missed its mark”, and was subsequently pursued by police officers.
During the chase, they were alerted by the “screams” of the animal, which had apparently eaten some of the drugs the drone was carrying and was now “adapted”.
Police had been enforcing a no-fly zone legally introduced by the Ministry of Justice around all prisons since late last month.
Previously, police officers could only act if there was evidence that contraband was being smuggled.
Drone operators who break the rules could be fined up to £2,500, and those caught smuggling illegal goods could be jailed for up to 10 years.
Figures show the number of drones captured or sighted on prison grounds more than doubled between 2019 and 2021.
They are in possession of drugs such as spices, which increase violence and aggression among prisoners, as well as mobile phones used to order contraband.
Both Wandsworth Prison and the Ministry of Justice have made no comments about the fox incident, except to point to comments from Prisons Minister Edward Argar, who said the government was “working harder than ever to stop the smuggling of contraband into prisons”. No comment was made about it.