Europe 1 with AFP 10:52 a.m., April 3, 2024
Drug packages delivered by drone to prison, on the side of the criminals, innovation is perpetual. A network was recently neutralized and it was with the help of a Snapchat account that it supplied around fifteen prisons between France and Belgium. Deliveries could go up to 350 grams.
Night of January 8 to 9, 2023, Uzerche prison in Corrèze, packages are dropped by drone. Three are seized, another remains stuck directly above an inmate's window. The incident will allow the collapse of a vast air traffic network. Between fall 2022 and December 2023, the gang of delivery people centralized orders via the Snapchat account “Drone2France” and supplied around fifteen prisons in France and Belgium. It charged 450 euros on average for a maximum of 350 g, with a minimum of four packages per delivery, some made from potato fillets.
More than a thousand overflights recorded in 2023
Using the same model, before its dismantling in September, "Air Colis" supplied establishments in the West, with drones equipped with a clamp allowing the release of a sock containing the goods, suspended by fishing line. The same month, a series of arrests took place in Béziers, with packages of more than 100 g of cocaine and 700 g of cannabis. Drone traffic is in vogue. In 2023, more than a thousand overflights have been recorded, including "400 blocked", according to a source close to the matter. “There is not a day when there is not an overflight, in mainland France as well as overseas,” assures Dominique Gombert of the FO justice union.
The delivery "is more and more precise, we almost arrive at the window", adds Wilfried Fonck, national secretary of Ufap-Unsa justice. Cannabis and telephones make up the bulk of orders, but also include kebabs, merguez, ceramic knives, religious books, etc.
Almost zero interception capacity
Delivery men offer their services directly on social networks or go through relatives of prisoners to collect the products. The packages do not exceed 500 grams, the maximum load for their drones which are simple commercial models weighing less than two kilograms. As for deliveries, mainly at night and carried out after tracking, the pilot is generally located within a radius of two to five kilometers, his rear is provided by lookouts.
The drone often moves with all lights off, guided by light codes emitted from the cells. Then all that remains is to pass your hand through the previously broken window grating to recover the goods. For supervisors who are short-staffed at night, the possibility of intercepting cargo during surveillance patrols is almost zero. “At most, we can carry out unannounced searches in the morning,” says Wilfried Fonck. But the nannies, these inmates whose behavior does not attract attention and responsible for hiding the products, complicate the task.
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45 neutralization devices
The phenomenon in France is not at the stage of Equateur which in September foiled an attempted attack in
drone trapped on a high security prison. But it is taken seriously.
The government awarded two contracts in 2019 and 2021 for the latest generation of electromagnetic jamming equipment. The Minister of Justice indicated last July before the Senate that "45 neutralization devices were ordered for a cumulative total amount of 12.2 million euros, including maintenance", and that the device is "capable of covering a panel of six frequency bands, representing a 95% response to the drone threat.
Two French companies were chosen: Cerbair and Keas which developed the Hydra 200 detection antenna and the Medusa jammer which, according to Cerbair, "produces an electromagnetic emission capable of instantly freezing drones flying nearby and triggering their emergency landing ".
“Innovation on the criminal side is perpetual”
Sensors are installed according to the ergonomics of prisons, which can notably reduce coverage in urban areas. But despite these technological tools, “innovation on the criminal side is perpetual,” underlines Yvan Gombert. “Hackers manage to hijack the protection zones”, others “test the heights” to bypass the anti-drone dome.
“They are faster than updating software” and maintenance times are all flaws, adds Wilfried Fonck. In summary, "we're playing Tom and Jerry" with the traffickers", acknowledges a source close to the matter, with the latter having "a head start".