PRISONS are usually deathly quiet at night. Despite housing the country’s most violent men, inmates agree on one thing – the need for a good night’s sleep.
But outside, the peace and quiet is frequently being disturbed by the unmistakable sound of which are being used to flood prisons with contraband by who can make a staggering £50,000 per drop.
Drugs were recovered during a police operation around HMP ManchesterCredit: Great Manchester Police
A former lag who has spent almost 20 years at Britain’s toughest jails including HMP Manchester, above, reveals gangs can rake up to £50,000 per dropCredit: Getty
Mobile phones, and have all been piloted into Britain’s estate, sparking a security nightmare for prison officers and those who run Britain’s ageing prison estate.
Now – for the first time – The Sun can lay bare the tactics used by gangs who have realised flying drones, or “eagles” as they are known, can be extremely lucrative.
A source, who has spent almost 20 years behind bars at some of Britain’s toughest jails including HMP and HMP , revealed how the gangs operate – and the huge amounts of cash they rake in.
The source said: “Drones and prison is extremely big – some gangs are raking in £50,000 a go.
“That sounds ridiculous but inside prison everything costs way more than outside. A £20 handset can go for £2,000. So if you put five of them on a drone and deliver them, that’s £10,000.
“Drugs also change hands for huge amounts. A single piece of paper covered in Spice is £1,000.
“So think how many little phones – which are small enough to be inserted into the human body – and pieces of drug-soaked paper can be attached to a drone.”
usually work in two-man teams with a pilot and a spotter, who will liaise with a prisoner inside the jail to organise the drop – and keep an eye out for any .
They favour flying at night as prisons operate skeleton staff teams because the lags are locked up.
Inmates then give the drone team the green light to start their delivery when they hear the footsteps of prison officers walking away from the cell where .
Cells are chosen not on who occupies them, but on ease of access.
Prior to delivery inmates in those cells will be offered cash to accept the goods – and warned they will be treated as a “grass” if they refuse.
Hi-tech drones which can boast features including cameras, recording devices and thermal imaging are used to deliver items so gangs can prove they were delivered.
Once inside, the items are sold and payment is made to criminals on the outside world.
Takeaway behind bars
The trade is mostly in mobile phones and drugs.
He said: “Prison staff are really concerned about drones and are very worried that weapons can be brought in.
“Drones put prison officers and vulnerable prisoners at risk. Inmates can take a picture on a phone and have the device sent out and have other criminals use that to try and identify them and their families.
“Some prisoners are having takeaway meals like and ordered in on drones to show off.
“No doubt some prisoners are planning to have a day meal flown in.
“But the problem is deadly serious because the use of drones has allowed the availability of mobile phones behind bars to become rife.
“They can then be used to make intimidating calls to witnesses to crimes and also victims to persuade them to withdraw complaints or not give evidence in .
“The are looking for ways to stop drones and one prison governor admitted to an inmate that they were considering erecting nets across all of the prisons.
Other contraband such as lighters, tobacco, a phone and a charger were also seized during the operationCredit: Great Manchester Police
Kurtis Carney, 36, was jailed for conspiring to transport prohibited items into prisons using dronesCredit: NWROCU
More contraband seized at HMP Manchester include more drugs as well as video gamesCredit: Great Manchester Police
“They are also looking at whether grilles can be fitted over windows but prisoners often use outside window ledges to store food so there are concerns around hygiene because waste could get stuck and rot.”
One recent police operation at HMP Manchester, better known as Strangeways, saw cops recover more than 500 phones from the Category A jail as part of Operation Sheriff which targets the movement of drugs, weapons and illicit contraband into prisons.
Detective Sergeant Carla Dalton, from GMP’s Prison Team, said: “Every single phone we remove from a prison cell is a blow to organised . These devices are not harmless – they are used to arrange drug deals, weapon drops and even plan violent attacks.”
Our source’s account fits with government figures which reveal the number of incidents at prisons involving drones increased by 770 per cent between 2019 and 2023.
Prison staff are really concerned about drones and are very worried that weapons can be brought in
Former lag
The devices can now carry loads of up to 240kg, prompting fears they could actually be used to fly prisoners over walls during an escape.
Staff at HMP Wandsworth, south , discovered one drone worth £6,000 in the grounds which had a flight time of 40 minutes and could hold four 60kg loads at once.
Charlie Taylor, HM chief inspector of prisons, warned earlier this year that the airspace over HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin was now effectively controlled by “”.
He added: “The safety of staff, prisoners and ultimately that of the public, is seriously compromised by the failure to tackle what has become a threat to national security.
“It is highly alarming that the police and Prison Service have, in effect, ceded the airspace above two high-security prisons to organised crime gangs, which are able to deliver contraband to jails holding extremely dangerous prisoners including some who have been designated as high-risk Category A.
“It is chilling that weapons can be delivered in this way – especially when some of these wings hold terrorists.”
‘Groomed to turn a blind eye’
Our former lag warned that poorly-paid prison warders can also be targeted to help with drone deliveries.
He said: “Prison officers – especially female ones – are sometimes targeted and groomed to turn a blind eye. It starts with a compliment and a prisoner asking them to turn a blind eye over a minor breach of rules.
“Once they do that, they know it’s likely they will do the same again for something slightly more serious.
“Prisoners also listen out for guards complaining about their pay or talking about financial difficulties.
“They will offer them a payment in the outside world if they keep quiet about drone deliveries. It’s very hard for prison staff – they can often only be two or three guards for 60 prisoners.”
Among those to have targeted prisons with drones are Mohammed Sharif who was locked up last month after the discovery of a haul of contraband and drones.
The 22-year-old was spotted in woodland near HMP Manchester by undercover officers on patrol late on September 21 2024.
He was seen using his phone underneath a tree close to the prison walls, with officers also spotting a large bag next to him. A remote-controlled drone and items wrapped in socks were also discovered, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Mohammed Sharif was locked up last month after he was spotted in a woodland near HMP Manchester with a haul of contraband and dronesCredit: Great Manchester Police
Robert Stoba, 26, was also sentenced for conspiring to transport prohibited itemsCredit: NWROCU
The socks contained a mobile phone and charger; tobacco and rolling paper; foil packages containing cannabis; MDMA; synthetic cannabinoids and ketamine, prosecutors said, with a second drone also found at his home.
A Telegram message discovered on his phone read: “The eagles have landed, that new route is magical, thank you.”
Data downloaded from the drone revealed it had been on around 150 flights into HMP Manchester, HMP High Down in , and HMP Feltham, West London, in the months prior to his arrest.
Sharif, of , was jailed for six years at Manchester crown court after pleading guilty to eight counts of conspiring to bring prohibited items into prison, and one count of possessing .
The previous month Curtis Carney, 36, of Kirkby, , and Robert Stoba, 26, of no fixed abode, were sentenced to a combined total of nine years and 10 months imprisonment for similar offences.
The men were targeted in a ten-month investigation led by the Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU), in collaboration with and Merseyside Police.
Carney was first arrested in June 2024 on the M6 in Lancashire with cops finding a drone in the boot of his car and a package containing drugs was thrown from the vehicle.
Four months later he was arrested again near HMP Liverpool and a search of his Polo car discovered two drones and four packages containing drugs and mobile phones.
During the investigation 11 drones were seized along with around £40,000 worth of drugs, which inside prison would sell for anywhere between £95,000 and £300,000.
Drones do have a massive impact on the community and we are doing a lot of proactive work on the outside to try to tackle it before it gets in
Chief Superintendent Iqbal Ahmed
The drones had been used for more than 50 flights into six prisons – HMP Liverpool, Altcourse, Hindley, Wymott, Garth, and Deerbolt.
A report by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons published in November warned HMP Liverpool is being “continuously targeted” by criminals using drones to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and other contraband into the prison.
The Inspectorate said the Victorian jail “remained too vulnerable to drone activity and other supply channels”.
It added that the net effect of the flow of drugs into the prison via drones fuelled a drug economy which “posed an ongoing threat to the ‘safety and stability of the prison’.”
Cops and prison officials regard drones as the biggest security threat facing our prison estate and the Ministry of Justice is understood to be contemplating a multi-million pound plan to cover all prisons with netting to combat them.
Police forces are targeting gangs with Gtr Manchester Police carrying out a string of operations.
Greater Manchester Police has been conducting a series of operations across the region in various prisons alongside HM Prison Service and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit in a bid to stamp out smuggling into jails.
Last month they seized 12 phones which were destined to end up in the hands of criminals inside HMP Hindley and over the last few months have seized a staggering 500 further phones which would have ended up in the prison population in the region.
Drone gangs usually work in two-man teams with a pilot and a spotter, who will liaise with a prisoner inside the jail to organise the dropCredit: Great Manchester Police
A line launcher was recovered by GMP at a property in Salford, leading to arrestsCredit: Great Manchester Police
Detective Superintendent Claire McGuire, head of intelligence and harm reduction at the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, told The Sun: “We are focused on tackling dangerous things like weapons and other contraband. They are fuelling organised crime and violence within the prisons. We are seeing it across the country.
“We are not just taking on the drone pilots – we want to tackle these groups and take out the leaders.
“There is a drone threat. We are sharing intelligence, working together and trying to think out of the box and tackle it. There is exploitation involved and people are being used to bring the contraband in.
“They get threatened and there is exploitation involved right up the chain. Serious organised crime is this. It is about control and intimidation.
“The tech is advancing and improving. We make sure we are on top of that and ahead of the game.”
Chief Superintendent Iqbal Ahmed added: “We are stopping people taking in contraband such as drugs, weapons and phones. People have started taking in takeaways and all sorts of things.
“Drones do have a massive impact on the community and we are doing a lot of proactive work on the outside to try to tackle it before it gets in.
“We are taking criminality seriously and also doing a lot of work in the community around prisons. There are community meetings and we have gone into . If they see stuff in the air, we want them to let us know.”
The situation is so serious that the Government has offered £60,000 to boffins who can develop a way of keeping drones out of prisons.
Launching the Counter-Drone Challenge, Prisons minister Lord Timpson urged inventors to help “harness innovation to keep staff safe, disrupt criminal networks and support prisoner rehabilitation.”
called SkyFence is already available that can detect drones within a 50 metre radius of a prison’s outer walls and activate a forcefield to block signals between the drone and the operator but it is yet to be rolled out.
The Commons justice select committee found that the Prison Service’s ability to maintain control is being “critically undermined by the scale of the trade and use of illicit drugs”.
It called for all Category A prisons to be given anti-drone technology within two years.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This government inherited a prison system in crisis with drone incidents rising by over 770% between 2019 and 2023.
“That is why we are investing £40 million in new security measures to clamp down on the contraband that fuels violence behind bars – including £10 million on anti-drone measures such as window replacements, external window grilles and specialist netting.”
Criminal gangs have realised flying drones into Britain’s prisons, or ‘eagles’ as they are known, can be extremely lucrativeCredit: Getty 
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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