Two men have been arrested for allegedly attempting to use a drone to deliver drugs and porn to inmates at a western Maryland prison.
The suspects were arrested outside of Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland Saturday night when officials spotted them in a vehicle with a drone, the prison party pack and a handgun, in what is believed to be the first case of a drone being used to deliver contraband into a Maryland prison, according to a release by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
The items were identified as K2 spice (a type of synthetic marijuana) and pornography.
This is the drone that was confiscated. Contraband included K2 spice and porn CDs pic.twitter.com/F67t4EFWiB— Alison Knezevich (@aliknez) August 24, 2015
The vehicle's owner had been under surveillance, police said, “as intelligence officers from WCI and detectives from the Intelligence and Investigative unit of DPSCS suspected them, along with at least one inmate, of plotting to use the unmanned drone to drop contraband at WCI.”
The two suspects, who have been identified as Thaddeus Shortz and Brian Keith Russell, are now being held in jail themselves.
“I commend the members of the investigative task force as well as the dedicated correctional employees who assisted in this investigation," Governor Larry Hogan said. "Keeping our prisons safe and free of contraband will always be a priority of our administration and I am confident Secretary Moyer and all of our law enforcement agencies will continue doing everything possible to ensure this happens”.
“This is an excellent law enforcement and correctional partnership,” added Stephen T. Moyer, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Public safety and Correctional Services, in the announcement. “Thanks to outstanding intelligence and detective work, we were able to keep out contraband that fuels violence and threatens the safety of the public, our employees, and the inmates.”