Two men, Thaddeus Shortz and Brian Keith Russell, have been arrested for their involvement in delivering some inmates at a western Maryland prison with drugs and pornography using an unmanned drone, Mashable reports.
According to a press release from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, officer saw a vehicle parked on a side road that runs alongside the state prison in Crepastown. Inside the vehicle, they found the drone in question, as well as a handgun, drugs, and porn. The Baltimore Sun's Alison Knezevich identified the contraband as K2 Spice (a kind of synthetic marijuana) and pornography CDs.
The two men are suspected to have been coordinating with an inmate inside the prison; cops will reportedly press charges against another suspect after inspecting another man's prison cell and finding contraband as well.
The suspects in the car had apparently been "under surveillance for some time," according to the press release. They now sit in jail too, according to Mashable — one on no bail.
Authorities believe that this is the first case of someone attempting to use a drone to deliver goods to a Maryland prison — but let's not forget that Ohio did it first (although not necessarily better).
[via Mashable, Maryland DPS]
