Six men have been arrested over a suspected drone plot to drop drugs and mobile phones into a Kent prison, after police were called to a reported burglary at a cricket club.
Officers were called at 1.43am on Sunday, 8 November, following a report of a burglary at a nearby cricket club at the Isle of Sheppey.
During a search of the area, officers found a suspicious vehicle and detained a man inside. A second suspect was found hiding in the back garden of a nearby property and was also detained.
Officers later discovered an abandoned drone in a field, believed to have been used in an attempt to drop contraband into the prison. Nearby, they recovered packages wrapped in tights with hooks attached, containing suspected drugs and mobile phones.
A short time later, patrols stopped a suspicious car in Squires Court. One man was found in the driver’s seat and another in the boot. Both were detained and officers recovered another package containing mobile phones from beneath the vehicle.
Two more men were later arrested on Eastchurch High Street.
Five men from London, aged 21, 23, 23, 25, and 30, and a 24-year-old man from Birmingham, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to convey prohibited items into a prison.
The arrests follow other recent smuggling cases involving London men, after an east London man was jailed for his part in a £13.8 million cannabis smuggling operation.
