ATLANTA — Drugs, cellphones, cigarettes, and more- that’s what the Fulton County Sheriff says was headed for the Fulton County Jail in a drone drop.
But investigators stopped it before liftoff and made some arrests.
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said his investigators recovered a drone Tuesday night and much, much more that investigators believe was headed into the jail, where it could’ve caused big problems.
“This is one of the largest contraband interdictions that we have had in the last four years,” Labat told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne.
Labat said his team grounded a drone smuggling operation Tuesday night before it could deliver a stunning array of contraband, ranging from drugs to nine cellphones to cigarettes.
“How valuable is tobacco in the jail?” Winne asked Labat.
“Well, that’s thousands of dollars,” Labat told Winne.
Natalie Ammons with the sheriff’s office said the sheriff’s criminal investigations division got a tip and sheriff’s FAST Unit investigator Jermaine Moore happened to be in the area he needed to be to do a traffic stop on a car where he saw a drone, a drone controller and more inside
“What’d you find in the car with a drone?” Winne asked Moore.
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“Marijuana, cell phone chargers, nine cell phones, oxycodone, various pills, cord, like 550 cord which is used to make the drops using the drone, and the packaging materials,” Moore said.
Moore said they also found 48 packages of cigarettes and over 100 loose cigarettes and suspected oxycodone.
The sheriff’s office said that Jeffery Jenkins and Richard Redding have been charged with a long list of crimes relating to the drone and where the sheriff’s office suspects it was intended to deliver contraband.
Their car was stopped within a mile of the jail.
Ammons said similar packaging leads investigators to suspect the same drone operation may have been behind a drop of McDonald’s Chicken Sandwiches, suspected oxycodone and more that was discovered stuck in jail fencing this past weekend, as if it got stuck there during an attempted drone drop.
“We are combating technology with technology and good old-fashioned detective work. And so, as we continue to investigate, we continue be really cognizant of the fact that this is a new trend,” Labat said.
Winne questioned the men accused in the drone drop.
“Were you involved with any drone drop operation?” Winne asked Redding.
“I was just the driver,” Redding said.
“Did you know what they were gonna do? How much were you paid?” Winne asked him.
“Chump change,” Redding said.
“Especially compared to the time you’re now facing if you’re convicted of it?” Winne asked Redding.
“Yessir, but I didn’t do anything,” Redding said.
As for Jenkins, he said he had no comment other than he was innocent.
The sheriff told Winne that he believes more than half the contraband that comes into the jail comes via drone and that cellphones and tobacco are illegal to have within the Fulton County Jail.
He said he has reached out to other sheriffs and the Georgia Department of Corrections to see if there are similarities to what they are seeing.
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