Drones being used to fly drugs and phones into Glasgow jail

HMP Barlinnie (Image: Newsquest)

CRIMINALS at a Glasgow jail are using drones to try and smuggle drugs and mobile phones into prison grounds.

The number of covert devices being used has soared across Scotland^[1] – with a new investigation revealing that a number of drones have been used to pilot illicit substances and handsets over the walls of HMP Barlinnie in Riddrie.

Figures obtained by justice magazine 1919 revealed that the method had been used on three separate occasions at the north Glasgow prison which houses some of the country’s most notorious criminals.

Drones were recovered by staff in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

The data, uncovered using freedom of information laws, show the extent of the practice across the prison estate. At HMP Edinburgh, 11 drones have been detected since 2021, while HMP Perth ranks the second highest with five incidents since 2018 and Barlinnie third.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said it is using “all technological and intelligence tools available” to tackle the issue of drugs being brought in.

Criminals have turned to the high-tech method of breaching security after the introduction of a policy to photocopy prisoners’ mail stopped inmates receiving psychoactive substances which were being sprayed onto the pieces of paper.

Glasgow Times:

Between August 2020 and July 2021, almost 9000 items of mail sent into Scottish jails tested positive for an illegal drug. However, the number of drug-related incidents fell dramatically, from 305 in the November of that year to 131 the following month meaning thatcriminals are exploring new ways of smuggling drugs into prisons.