DRONE CONTRABAND DELIVERY TO PRISON INMATE THWARTED

In Maryland, Thaddeus Shortz, 25, and Keith Brian Russell, 30, were parked on a side street near the Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland in a car full of drugs, pornography and tobacco. They planned to load the items onto a green-and-white drone and send them soaring past the barbed wire and armed guards – and into the hands of an inmate – but they were caught before they could send the drone into the air. Now Shortz and Russell have been charged with illegal possession of drugs with the intent to distribute and other related charges, and an inmate inside the facility could also face charges. Kevin Murphy, executive director of the U.S. Deputy Wardens Association, says: “Traditionally our first area of defense was anybody coming over the fence, through the fence or under the fence. Now this throws a whole new element on security because these things are airborne.” More and more people also using drones to sneak drugs, cellphones and other contraband into prisons. A recent drone drop at an Ohio prison sparked a brawl over the marijuana, cigarettes and heroin it left behind. In South Carolina, authorities found that such a device carrying marijuana, cellphones and tobacco had crashed into the bushes outside a correctional institution. And four people were arrested in Georgia for a similar effort in 2013.
* Their plan never got off the ground.
* Now Donald Trump is warning about drones airlifting Mexicans across the border.
* First, that’s a pretty cool name: Thaddeus Shortz.
* And now he’s going to take it in the shorts.
* Yes, they’ve stopped a few drones getting into prisons, so imagine all the ones that got through.
* What you need is a diversion drone to throw the guards off from the real thing.
* The deputy wardens guy said the problem was that drones are airborne? Well, you’ve got to admit. He does seem to get it.