back to article Drone delivery sparks Ohio prison brawl

An exercise-yard fight at an Ohio prison is being blamed on a drone's failed drug-smuggling attempt. Guards at the Mansfield Correctional Institution had to break up a fight in the prison's north recreation yard when nine inmates began fighting over the contents of a package that had been dropped by a drone flying over the …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    lower than low

    Wow hard to think of any rock bottom worse than nursing wounds from getting your ass kicked fighting for opiates from the sky in a prison outside Cleveland. Whole lot of fail to get you to that point. Plus they may get more time for fighting if not the contraband.

    1. P. Lee
      Coat

      Re: lower than low

      Unreported: The drone was called "Lucy" and the drugs were paid for with conflict diamonds...

      1. VinceH

        Re: lower than low

        "Unreported: The drone was called "Lucy" and the drugs were paid for with conflict diamonds..."

        The only problem with that is Lucy was in the sky with the drugs - not the diamonds.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: lower than low

      Wow hard to think of any rock bottom worse than nursing wounds from getting your ass kicked fighting for opiates from the sky in a prison outside Cleveland.

      I would imagine that physical violence is a popular diversion, and indeed the only skill of the inmates concerned. They won't be deterred by the risk of getting a kicking, nor of having time added to the sentence, since these are occupational hazards, much like you and I see paper cuts, or a sore wrist from too much keyboard use.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not hard to beat

    It would be pretty easy to detect an incoming drone and connect that to - automated - turret mounted water cannon. Enough to nobble a drone and not hurt someone.

    Sadly by the time this was developed and implemented by the usual channels it would cost $50m a pop, despite the fact that it could be done for say ... *waves hands* ... 10 turrets (and plumbing + compressors etc) plus 10 sensors and integration of said, plus RnD, say 10 x 5000 + 10 x 2000 + 100000 + 100000 = £270,000 = say USD 400,000. Now that's value for money ....

    ... or you could just look for who picks up the thing dropped from the flying thing that just flew over and beat the crap out of them until they remove it from their ....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not hard to beat

      No, make them keep it there.

      That way when the packages disolve, the drug problem will be, in the short term, solved.

      1. Hollerith 1

        Re: Not hard to beat

        {cue music} "It isn't raining rain, you know, it's raining violets"

    2. Charles Manning

      Merey a diversion

      Most of the contraband gets into prisons just the same way as it has since forever - the screws bring it in.

      The odd episode with a drone allows the prison guards to shrug their shoulders and deny responsibility.

  3. Winkypop Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    Special delivery

    For a Mr 363523762!

  4. Mark 85

    Many prisons in the States do have a gun (cannon maybe?) that fires a net. In the not too distant past there were attempts to break prisoners out using a helicopter. I'm not sure if they still have this available, however. I'm sure this same or similar device could be used on a package carrying drone.

  5. Charles Manning

    Damn conversionitis!

    " 144.5 grams of tobacco, 65.4 grams of marijuana, and 6.6 grams of heroin"

    Bad reporting. You're making up precision that would not have been in the original report!

    That would have started out as "something like "4 oz tobacco, 2 and a third oz marijuana, and a fifth oz of heroin". It is only then valid to give the same degree of precision. Something like:

    145g tobacco, 65g dope and 6.5g heroin.

    1. Death Boffin
      Joke

      Re: Damn conversionitis!

      You forgot the obligatory calculation of a street value of $4.3 million dollars (with the obligatory conversion to £4.3 million [that's the obligatory software/hardware conversion rate innit?]).

    2. Unep Eurobats

      Re: Damn conversionitis!

      That's what I thought, too. But the original story has those metric amounts.

      I think we need a new Register-approved unit of measure: a drone-load of drugs.

      1. BuckeyeB

        Re: Damn conversionitis!

        YES !

        UP for you.

        Brian

  6. Your alien overlord - fear me
    Black Helicopters

    'and cannot fly anywhere near airports or large sporting events.'

    Time for the FAA to add 'or prisons/police stations' methinks.

    How about a quadcopter icon El Reg?

    1. BuckeyeB

      If they outlaw drones, then only outlaws will have drones.

  7. Florida1920
    Headmaster

    Bad strategy

    Here, would-be cons, let me set it up for you. Use two drones, or enable one to carry multiple packages. First, strew packages across one end of the yard, to get all the other cons chasing them and distract the screws (that's con talk for "guards"). Then, when everyone else is busy, move the drone across the yard and drop the intended package to the waiting, solo con. I'd also suggest hash brownies and nicotine lozenges instead of the smoke-able stuff. That way he has a chance to ingest some before the screws wise up and take him down. (You didn't seriously think you'd get the package into the building, did you? Sheesh, no wonder you got caught!)

    1. goldcd

      The package seized was mainly tobacco with a bit of heroin

      Assuming the price of getting stuff in and risk of being caught is fixed - seems a somewhat strange cargo.

      Sure you're not right, and it worked?

    2. Charles Manning

      Re: Bad strategy

      ... or just use one drone...

      Fly it around dropping numerous small packages filled with breath mints for the diversion.

      Meantime just throw the main package over the wall.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bad strategy

      I was going to suggest a similar strategy, but you've beat me to it. So, for shits'n'giggles, a prank-as-punishment variation: send in two, with the second appropriately lagged relative to the arrival time of the first and the drop of its cargo--densely-wrapped wrapping, all the way down, and no turtle--into a crowded yard. The second drone is solely occupied with recording the first's arrival, the drop, and subsequent events...

  8. Richard Taylor 2

    Aside from being forbidden from carrying boxes of cigarettes, marijuana, and heroin into medium-security correctional facilities

    So medium-security facilities are discriminated against in the aerial delivery programme?

  9. Pete 48

    Business Model

    Amazon and Craigslist merger?

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    9ft Airzooka

    Couple of them cross firing one after the other should take down a fair number of domestic drones.

    No projectile to leave the boundary, reduced chance of causing fire.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is it really that difficult to put a net over the prison yard? What is the point in banning drones near prisons when you could just as easily use a catapult?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Drone operator to do 10 years in prison

    That should be tomorrow's story headline.

  13. William4170

    Several them cross terminating consistently should bring down a reasonable number of homegrown robots.

    No shot to leave the limit, decreased possibility of causing shoot.

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