A husband and wife have been jailed for a combined total of more than seven years after being convicted of smuggling thousands of pounds of illegal contraband into UK prisons and young offender institutes using drones.
The man and woman, from Camden, London, were arrested in October 2023 following an investigation led by Northamptonshire Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Team.
In partnership with the East Midlands Serious Operations Unit’s Regional Prison Investigation Unit (EMSOU RPIU), the Force launched an investigation in January 2023 into the increased drone incursions at His Majesty’s Prison, HMP Onley.
The investigation identified the 27-year-old man as being responsible for more than 100 drone incursions into 11 prisons and young offender institutes across 78 separate dates between August 2022 and October 2023.
However, most of the incursions took place in Northamptonshire with at least 72 of the drone drops taking place at HMP Onley over 39 separate dates.
It also proved that his 28-year-old wife assisted by hiring at least 20 cars costing in the region of £17,000, which he used to travel to and from the HMP sites - Onley, The Mount, Maidstone, High Down, Guys Marsh, Garth, Wormwood Scrubs, Highpoint, Downview YOI, Brixton and Edinburgh.
In addition to arranging the transport, the woman used her bank account to launder nearly £50,000, which her husband had been paid for piloting the drones and delivering the illegal contraband at a pre-arranged drop point within the grounds of each of the prisons.
Detectives also established that the man was already under investigation for similar offences by the Metropolitan Police, which executed a search warrant at his home address in on August 3, 2023.
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