New York prison officials say they stopped a drone delivery that came packed with blades, suspected drugs, and electronics in the middle of the night. Around 1am Saturday at Marcy Correctional Facility, staff spotted a drone dropping a package between dorms inside the secure fence, then quickly grabbed it and called in state police and bomb technicians because wires were sticking out of the bundle. Once cleared as safe, the package was opened: inside, authorities say, were two 8-inch double-edged knives, more than a pound of a "green leafy substance," paper soaked in "intoxicating chemicals," a cellphone, hair clippers, and bandanas, USA Today reports.
The drone itself was later recovered outside the prison, about 50 miles east of Syracuse. No arrests have been announced, and the investigation is ongoing. State corrections commissioner Daniel Martuscello called drone drops an "evolving but imminent threat" that "fuels violence and puts both staff and the incarcerated population at risk." He said the state correctional system has experienced around a dozen other drone incidents, the AP reports.
The incident is being used to push Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan to tighten drone laws, including criminal penalties for illegal drone use near prisons and expanded powers for law enforcement to detect and disable them—measures strongly backed by the state correctional officers' union. (In South Carolina last year, a drone dropped crab legs, steak, and marijuana into a prison yard a few weeks before Christmas.)
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