Drone lands in French jail, drops package to prisoners

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS

French media on Wednesday reported that a drone carrying a suspicious package had landed in a prison courtyard in the south-east of the country.

According to Le Figaro, a drone with an embedded camera and a hanging parcel landed in the courtyard of Valence prison around 3.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) on Tuesday.

It "carried a clearly identified package," the French daily quoted a prison officers’ union source as saying.

"The alert was immediately raised by the watchtowers and the inmates were all searched... but it was impossible to find the contents of the package, which the prisoners immediately seized and passed from hand-to-hand," the source added.

Tuesday's incident increases concerns by prison supervisors, said to already be struggling to control the flow of contraband in French jails.

"This is a first step towards smuggling more dangerous things, and today, it's probably drugs. Next time, it could be weapons, explosives," the union source said.