3 arrested after drone drops cellphone, drugs to prison yard

IONIA, Mich. – Michigan prison officials say three people have been arrested after trying to use a drone to smuggle a cellphone and drugs into a prison.

Michigan Department of Corrections says two guards at the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in the western Michigan city of Ionia heard the drone in the prison yard shortly before 4 a.m. Thursday. Moments later, the drone dropped a package near a housing unit. The Corrections Department says that as officers responded to the scene, the drone dropped a second package.

Department spokesman Chris Gautz says local law enforcement officers detained three people in a vehicle near the prison about 110 miles (175 kilometres) northwest of Detroit.

MichiganState Police spokeswoman Shanon Banner says the three haven’t been charged yet. Authorities haven’t released their names.