Dangerous gangsters FLEW drugs and phones into prison for months on end in major £1.7m racket

This was the brazen moment a gang used a drone to deliver illicit goods to a prison near Greater Manchester. Illegal drugs, mobile phones and SIM cards were carried onto the grounds of HMP Risley, in Warrington, by a drone on more than 20 occasions in five months.

CCTV footage shows a drone with a package suspended underneath flying above the prison. It then hovers outside a cell window, before a prisoner takes possession of the package.

An investigation revealed that two inmates were collecting the items and selling them inside the prison. Now, six members of the gang responsible have been locked up for a combined 30 years after appearing at Liverpool Crown Court last Friday (June 30).

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The court heard how a string of drone flights took place at the prison from August to December 2020. After prison officers spotted the drones flying over, Cheshire Police and staff at HMP Risley conducted an extensive joint investigation.

It uncovered an organised crime group which was operating on both sides of the prison walls. Charlie Swann, 26, and Aaron Dodd, 31, were responsible for collecting the drone packages and selling the items inside the prison.

The rest of the gang were responsible for purchasing and supplying the items, flying them into the prison and managing payments totalling tens of thousands of pounds. Drugs involved were estimated to be worth between £347,000 and £1.7 million.

At 10.26pm on September 28, 2020, a drone flight was reported over the prison. The following day, prison officers conducted a cell search, where a package containing heroin, cannabis, two iPhones and nine SIM cards was found.

Swann's cell was also