Drones Over Prisons: U.S. Battles Smuggling as Regulations Limit State Action

Drone activity over U.S. prisons surged in 2024, with federal facilities reporting 479 drone incidents, up from 23 incidents in 2018, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The rise comes as regulators say states cannot shoot down or jam drones, leaving detection and confiscation as the primary tools available to curb airborne contraband.

South Carolina has developed a national model for drone detection at its medium- and maximum-security prisons. When a drone is over a facility, select staff receive a cellphone alert, and a dedicated drone response team moves to the drop site. The state reported 262 incursions over its prisons in 2022, up from 69 in 2019. "We get assaulted nightly," said Joel Anderson, director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections. "We get assaulted at multiple institutions at night."

Smuggling missions have grown more elaborate. Early in the trend, drones carried roughly four pounds at speeds around 45 mph. Now, heavy-lift models can travel more than 75 mph and haul 25-pound duffle bags of contraband over prison fences. At some institutions, a single night may feature back-to-back drops, with drones returning to their controller and then to the yard again. Most of the pilots are former inmates with inside connections who coordinate using illegal cellphones smuggled into facilities.

The department reports that the drone team confiscates disabled drones and retrieves in-flight records, which show paths, prior flights and imagery. That data can help prosecutors identify a drone operator's home address. Anderson noted an anecdote: "In some cases, our crooks are so smart that they'll fly them in their own yards. We had one fly and took a picture of his mailbox, and that's how we went and got him."

Under current federal law, the Federal Aviation Administration prohibits states from bringing down drones because they are registered aircraft. States can only detect and confiscate the drone and its payload. The problem is acute in part because payloads have included fentanyl; Anderson warned that a single drone could carry enough fentanyl to incapacitate an entire institution. "We would hate to disable a drone, and it flies off into a subdivision somewhere, and then we don't know where it is."

Efforts to expand responses may hinge on policy changes, including possible use of radio-jamming to block external communications. The Federal Communications Commission is exploring allowing states to use jamming tech to prevent inmates from using cellphones smuggled into facilities. Anderson said, "I'd much rather be using them in the living areas, watching inmates, than running around out here chasing illegal packages."

SC's detection system also uses alerts that notify specific prison staff when a drone flies over a facility. Within minutes, a drone can be intercepted or diverted, and the payload recovered for examination. The program has been supported by hardware that helps locate drones and track their flight histories, which in turn facilitates investigations and potential arrests.

The drone challenge is evolving as smugglers adapt to regulations and technology. Federal and state agencies continue to expand detection capabilities, while policymakers weigh additional tools, including potential options to disable or block drones that threaten facility security. The momentum in South Carolina underscores a broader trend: as drone technology becomes more accessible, prisons across the country face increasingly sophisticated methods of contraband delivery, prompting continued investment in detection, data analysis and interagency cooperation.

The overall trend shows no sign of abating, with authorities stressing that much of the risk comes from the intersection of illicit cellphones, organized smuggling networks and increasingly capable drones. Officials say continued investment in detection technology, staff training and potential policy changes will determine how effectively prisons can counter this evolving threat.