"This highly organised gang thought they were outsmarting the police and prison authorities. What they didn't know is they were subject to sustained specialist surveillance by Met officers. All seven men admitted their roles in a serious, organised, and prolific enterprise to supply Class B and C drugs, and conveying list A and B articles into prisons."
"At the centre of the conspiracy was Mohseni, an Afghan national who was granted leave to remain as a child in the UK in 2003. He was sentenced to five years and three months and will serve at least 40% of that. He was described in court as having the leading role behind almost every drop, organising flights, operating the drones, co-ordinating drivers and lookouts, handling payments totalling more than 30,000."
"The men would travel by car to the prisons, often in the early hours of the morning, and fly packages filled with contraband through cell windows. CCTV footage shows some of the gang attaching fishing wire to a drone which was tied to a package and melted using a lighter to secure it."
Seven men were sentenced at Harrow Crown Court for operating a sophisticated drone smuggling operation targeting multiple prisons including Wormwood Scrubs, Brixton, Pentonville, and Wandsworth. The gang, led by Shafaghatullah Mohseni, an Afghan national, systematically delivered Class B and C drugs, weapons, and mobile phones into prison cells during early morning hours. They used drones with fishing wire attachments to deliver packages through cell windows, accounting for an estimated 75% of all drone drops across London's prisons. The operation was highly organized, involving coordinated drivers, lookouts, and direct communication with inmates via illicit phones. Mohseni received a five-year-three-month sentence and was identified as the primary organizer handling payments exceeding £30,000. The gang also targeted prisons in Norwich, Leicester, Onley, and Bedford.
Read at www.bbc.com
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