Georgian authorities charged 23 individuals, including 17 current or former prisoners in the state, for a clandestine operation of smuggling drugs into the state’s prisons using drones.
The investigation, which was given the codename “operation night drop,” seemingly because the drug packets were dropped in the prisons during the night,” saw the collaboration of a number of state, federal, and local law enforcement agencies.
The charges have been brought in two different indictments, according to which the drug smuggling operation was organized in multiple prisons statewide, including but not limited to Telfair State Prison and Smith State Prison.
Federal prosecutors stated that 22 felons are slapped with the charge of possessing marijuana and methamphetamine with either the intent to distribute it or actually distributing it. The remaining one person has been charged with the additional crime of possessing a firearm alongside the drug charges. More charges like the use of contraband communication devices have also been brought against the individuals who were in custody at any time during the smuggling.
The prosecutors further added that the convicted people had been smuggling these drugs since 2019 and managed to do it until July this year, when they were finally caught.
Reportedly, the inmates used contraband cell phones to communicate with their partners-in-crime outside the jails, who used to drop the prohibited items into the prison’s yard.
The indictments also revealed the text messages between the criminals, which unveiled some of the minute details of the operation.
One text message from January 2023 shows that an inmate asked their partner outside to inform him before taking off the drone and after dropping the drug packet. The same message mentioned that the inmate would then inform their partner after picking up the packet from the prison’s yard. Furthermore, the inmates also used to send screenshots of Google Maps satellite view to inform their partners about the exact location where they should drop the packets.
Some other text messages show that the inmates used to give strict instructions to their partners about the type, quantities, and sealing of the drugs.
Federal Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, Jill E. Steinberg, stated that the whole network of criminals involved in threatening the safety of inmates and prison employees by introducing controlled substances in the prisons is busted.
The law enforcement seized ten drones and 21 firearms during the operation.
