TEN people have been arrested in dawn raids by police investigating the use of drones to smuggle drugs into prisons, including Hewell in Worcestershire.
West Midlands Police detained eight men and two women, aged between 20 and 43, early on Wednesday on suspicion of conspiracy to organise and carry out drops of contraband.
Addresses in the Black Country, including in Coseley, Tipton, Dudley and Oldbury, as well as in Weoley Castle, Minworth and Northfield in Birmingham were raided.
Detectives are investigating 90 drops of drugs, mobile phones and SIM cards at up to seven prisons in England, between April 2016 and last year.
Apart from Hewell, the jails at the centre of the alleged offences are Birmingham, Oakwood and Featherstone, near Wolverhampton, Risley in Warrington, Wymott in Lancashire, and Liverpool.
Detective Inspector Erica Field, from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit's prison intelligence unit and prison investigation team, said the arrests were "very significant".
She said: "Much of the violence behind bars is linked to drug use and supply so it's vitally important we do all we can to cut off the supply lines - and anyone convicted of supplying banned substances into prisons can soon expect to be inmates themselves."
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