Gang that used drones for prison drops jailed

A gang that used drones to smuggle drugs, weapons and mobile phones into prisons has been jailed.

An estimated 75% of drone drops across London's prisons were due to the seven men who targeted prisons including Wormwood Scrubs, Brixton, Pentonville and Wandsworth.

Shafaghatullah Mohseni, 29, Hashim Al-Hussaini, 28, Mohammed Hamoud, 22, Faiz Salah, 29, Zahar Essaghi, 51, Mustafa Ibrahim, 30, and Emanuel Fisniku, 25, were sentenced at Harrow Crown Court.

Det Insp John Cowell said: "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. The hearing was held at Hendon Magistrates' Court, where some Harrow Crown Court cases are being heard.

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. This was then flown to the prisoners in their cells.

The gang also targeted prisons in Norwich, Leicester, Onley in Northamptonshire and Bedford.

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, and communicating directly with prisoners using illicit mobile phones inside the jails.

His defence barrister argued the 29-year-old had built up debts of about £30,000 from a gambling addiction and feared for his safety.

The court heard that one drone crashed and was seized by the authorities at HMP Wandsworth.

It contained cannabis, capsules of Pregabalin known as "new Valium", and tablets of Alprazolam commonly sold under the brand name Xanax.

Another package was intercepted inside Wandsworth Prison, after police notified staff of a drone flight to a specific cell. The package contained cannabis, cigarettes and five iPhones.

Financial investigations showed money being transferred from associates of serving prisoners to fund the operation.

Last year, the chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor warned of the increased risk drones would pose for smuggling weapons and drugs into prisons.

The sentences for the other six men who worked as drone pilots, co-pilots, drivers and lookouts, were as follows:

• Hashim Al-Hussaini, of Kenton, who acted as a lookout: 33 months
• Mohammed Hamoud, of, Kenton, driver and received money: 33 months
• Zahar Essaghi, of Colindale, driver: 33 months
• Faiz Salah, of Colindale, driver and received money: 31 months
• Mustafa Ibrahim, of Harrow, driver who used his own car: 30 months
• Emanuel Fisniku, of Islington: 27 months

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