You know you’re on to something when criminals do everything they can to turn your tech into something they can abuse.
Because, what else can you say about all these drones that are being caught smuggling contraband across borders and into prisons?
It is because the drones are good.
Of course, it is a testament to how effective the drones are at what they do – a small remotely controlled aircraft that can be customised at home to be more powerful, to add the capacity for delivering small packages while simultaneously using powerful camera and AI detection technology to reconnoitre the ground below and decide the safest time and place to land or drop a package.
Thumps up to the drones; but it is one hell of a headache for authorities who have to come up with better countermeasures that would stem the flow of unauthorised drones flying into airports and other strategic points, or dropping contraband into correctional facilities.
The Scottish Prison Service is at the same crossroads today.
The country’s justice secretary recently told parliament that the prison service was turning to AI drone detection technology in a bid to thwart airborne deliveries to prisoners.
Angela Constance told a meeting of the Scottish Parliament that prison officials in Scotland have been exploring technology which can detect when unmanned aerial vehicles are entering prison airspace.
There has been a worrying rise in drones being used to deliver suspected drugs, syringes, and mobile phone SIM cards to inmates.
In her response to a question from Scottish Conservative MSP Alexander Stewart, Constance said: “The use of drones to introduce illicit items into our prison estate is a current and credible threat, and it is one that the Scottish Prison Service and I are taking very seriously.
“I am pleased to inform the member that the Scottish Prison Service has been trialling preventative measures to negate the risk that is presented by drones and it is evaluating their effectiveness before finalising a targeted approach to this clear and obvious threat to safety in our prisons.”
According to Mr Stewart, information obtained from prisons shows that criminals are ‘increasingly using state-of-the-art technology to avoid security.’
“One drone was found to be full of mobile phone SIM cards, syringes and needles, together with tablets and suspected drugs,” Stewart said.
“Violence among inmates will be an inevitable consequence of drone deliveries. What action can be put in place to ensure that the lives of hard-working prison officers are protected?”
In reply, Constance said: “I will point to three specific actions among many that are being taken. There are measures to improve infrastructure, such as the piloting of the implementation of new window grills in some of our larger establishments.
“There are targeted reactive measures that involve the piloting of covert technology to detect when a drone is approaching or entering SPS airspace. There is also the drone detection pilot called Dedrone, which ended earlier this year. SPS is currently exploring other software and technologies that are on the market.”
According to Scottish Prison Service, there were 94 recorded sightings or recoveries of drones in Scottish prisons between 2020 and 2024. Official data shows a huge spike in attempted deliveries in 2023, with 67 (71 percent) in that year alone, up from just six in 2020.
On Christmas Day last year, several inmates were hospitalised after taking drugs that were suspected of being delivered to HMP Glenochil, in Clackmannanshire, by drone.
Dedrone is a pioneering new AI-driven autonomous drone detection and mitigation platform, developed by Axon. The platform enables public safety and defence teams to detect, track, and, when necessary, neutralise rogue drones in real time, ensuring both public spaces and sensitive areas remain secure.