Drone Drops Drugs, Other Contraband At Georgia Prison (ICYMI)

DAVISBORO, GA — A drone carrying drugs, cellphones and other contraband was captured after landing on the roof of a Georgia prison this week.

State prison officials say the drone flew over the fences at Washington State Prison in central Georgia and landed on the roof of a building there at about 10:45 p.m. on Monday.

The drone was carrying a package that contained four blue Samsung Galaxy J1 cellphones, 7.8 ounces of tobacco, a white USB charger cable, a pound of marijuana and 31 Oxycodone pills, some of which were broken, said Joan Heath, public affairs director for the Department of Corrections.

No one had been arrested in the case as of Thursday morning.

Heath said that, as drones become more popular among the public, they have become an increasingly common method inmates have used to try to smuggle banned items into jails and prisons.

"During the first six months of this year, more than 35 drones have been spotted and/or confiscated," Heath told WXIA-TV. "GDC considers drones a serious threat to the safe and secure operations of our facilities."

In September, authorities released information showing that drones were used by a methamphetamine ring bankrolled by a lottery winner in south Georgia. Ronnie Music Jr., 45, of Waycross, pleaded guilty last July to federal drug trafficking and firearms charges. In 2015, Music won $3 million in a Georgia Lottery scratch-off game.

He admitted to using much of that fortune to fund the drug ring.

An indictment of seven of Music's alleged co-conspirators said inmates in a Georgia prison used cellphones smuggled in by drones to run an operation dealing meth in Glynn, Ware and Wayne counties. Prosecutors said that two drones used in the conspiracy were seized at Calhoun State Prison in Forsyth.

Photos courtesy Georgia Department of Corrections