Drone rangers
BEWARE, it’s the attack of the drones!
Drugs are big business in prisons. On the inside they can fetch four times their street value, and serving time can become a business opportunity for kingpin convicts.
And now there is a new, modern way to sneak drugs into prison – deliver them directly to cell windows using drones.
Contraband used to be thrown over the walls or smuggled in by visitors, but it seems crime is moving with the times.
This fascinating film follows the investigation and prosecution of an astonishingly prolific criminal gang using drones at UK prisons.
Although the prisoners don’t have access to the money, the business means family members can pay off debts.
Gareth Sands, governor of HMP Hewell, says: “We’ve got quite a high percentage of men involved in organised crime groups who are looking at getting drugs into the prison, and will say to staff, ‘I earn more in a week than you do in a year.’
“And some of them do, through extortion, exploitation and organised crime.”
But to prosecute the offenders, police need evidence of who is involved on the inside and who’s flying the packages in.
Filmed over a year, with access to the CPS and West Mercia police, this film follows senior crown prosecutor Eran Cutliffe as she works to build a complex case against a crime network.
“It’s an enterprise, they’re making money on their own terms,” says Eran.
Expect tense scenes as they slowly piece together the evidence to prosecute this audacious gang.