Cleveland, Ohio authorities have released video footage depicting a prison inmate receiving airborne illegal contraband from a drone in the sky.
The video starts with an unidentified man wandering around while looking up at the sky during his recreation time in the exercise yard. Abruptly, the man jumps forward, trying to catch something.
A package bounces off of the ground forward and away from the inmate. He quickly chases the item down, throwing part of his uniform on top to conceal it, before snatching and running out of the cameras view.
Cuyahoga County Jail has revealed that the illegal package contained a phone and marijuana, Fox News reports.
“If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere,” Stated Sheriff Paul Sigsworth. “You try to stay one step ahead as best you can, but you try to learn from incidents like this locally and nationally.”
This case of airborne contraband isn’t actually unique. Florida state prison saw a mother-daughter duo attempting to fly contraband into their facility late last year. While a South Carolina prisoner actually managed to escape using a pair of wire cutters acquired through a drone in the sky.
The issue has become large enough the the Federal Aviation Administration has actually put new rules into place disallowing drones from flying over 19 different prisons.
“This is the first time the Agency has placed specific flight restrictions for unmanned aircraft, or ‘drones,’ over Federal Bureau of Prisons and US Coast Guard facilities,” a press release from the FAA stated in June 2018. “The FAA has placed similar flight restrictions over military installations that remain in place, as well as over ten Department of Interior facilities and seven Department of Energy facilities.”
