The U.S. Justice Department building in Washington, D.C., is shown in February. On Wednesday, department officials announced charges for 12 people it said used drones to deliver drugs and other contraband to federal prisons. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
June 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department announced charges Wednesday for 12 people it said used drones in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs, weapons and other items into multiple prisons.
The department said the conspiracy affected 10 federal prisons in eight states, including Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi, WAPT-TV reported.
U.S. Attorney William Keyes said the operation was based at a former daycare in Macon, Ga., and used multiple drones to deliver contraband to prisons by night.
Keyes said the indictment "charges the most sophisticated and sprawling criminal enterprise using drones to introduce contraband into the federal prison system ever charged by the Department of Justice," CNN reported.
