Drone carrying drugs, cell phones crashes into California prison wall

CHARLESTON S.C. — A drone being flown in a novel attempt to smuggle phones, marijuana, and tobacco into a South Carolina maximum-security prison crashed outside its walls, authorities said.

The contraband smuggling attempt has been under investigation since the wreckage was discovered in April outside the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, said state Department of Corrections spokeswoman Stephanie Givens.

Officials believe it was the first time an unmanned aircraft had been used in an effort to breach prison walls in the state, Givens said. Most cellphones are thrown over walls.

“The technology is getting better, and we have to figure out different ways to fight back,” she said.

Illegal cellphones, an issue in prisons nationwide, have drawn particular alarm in South Carolina. In 2010, a cellphone smuggled into the same prison was used to order a hit on a prison officer, who was shot six times at his home but survived.

Authorities have arrested one man in the drone incident and are seeking another suspect. Brenton Lee Doyle, 28, appeared in court Wednesday for a hearing. He faces charges of attempting to introduce contraband into a prison and possession of the drug flunitrazopam, a muscle relaxant known as “roofies.”