A state-of-the-art drone intercepted in Poggioreale: hashish and a smartphone seized, but the aircraft escaped.

Naples – Yesterday, the Penitentiary Police intercepted and neutralized a state-of-the-art drone headed toward the Naples-Poggioreale prison. Officers managed to recover the cargo—300 grams of hashish and a smartphone—but the drone reactivated and fled. The USPP announced the news.

During a search of the Avellino high-security unit, four other smartphones were also found and seized.

Organized crime's hi-tech warfare

"Organized crime is waging a relentless war against high-tech," commented USPP President Giuseppe Moretti and Regional Secretary Ciro Auricchio, "constantly seeking increasingly cutting-edge solutions to overcome security systems. And all this is happening in a prison, let's remember, with a lack of staff and a capacity of 2300 inmates."

"But the professionalism and care demonstrated by the prison police at Poggioreale," the two union representatives emphasize, "remains a fundamental safeguard for safety."

The escalation of drones over the city towards the prisons

Yesterday's incident is part of a now frequent sequence of air raids on the city of Naples aimed at penitentiaries, particularly Poggioreale.

Just on October 2nd, a large, sophisticated European drone, estimated to be worth around 10 euros, was neutralized. It was carrying a kilogram of drugs (hashish, cocaine, and marijuana), a precision scale, and 15 smartphones complete with cables and power supplies.

On September 9th, another aircraft was shot down carrying a latest-generation iPhone and 150 grams of hashish. On September 19th, the Carabinieri arrested three people (a 40-year-old from Boscoreale and two young men) caught attempting to smuggle drugs into the prison using a drone rigged with duct tape and fishing line.

In the previous months, multiple interventions had been recorded, with seizures of several drones, dozens of cell phones, and kilos of narcotics during perimeter checks.

Strengthening of controls, anti-drone and staff is needed

Moretti and Auricchio emphasize that "there is an increasingly urgent need to strengthen perimeter control systems and deploy adequate anti-drone equipment, along with strengthening the staffing structure. Only in this way can the Penitentiary Police be adequately equipped to address the new ways in which drugs and cell phones are being smuggled into prisons."

At Poggioreale, with approximately 2300 inmates and a structural staffing deficit of around 200, officers manage to maintain order and internal security only at great expense, while organized crime continues to invest in increasingly sophisticated technologies to bypass the walls.