Weight-loss drugs and hair-loss treatments being flown into UK prisons by drones
Drones infiltrating British prisons to distribute contraband are not only carrying large quantities of illicit drugs but also a wide range of lifestyle products including weight loss pills and hair loss treatments, Britain’s chief inspector of prisons has said.
Charlie Taylor said drone fleets, which now routinely bypass prisons’ security systems, represented a “new paradigm” for the prison system, particularly as the ability of prisoners to make illegal deliveries could pose a major security threat.
While location technologies such as What3Words increase delivery accuracy, drones themselves have become increasingly advanced and capable of delivering larger packages.
Mr Taylor, who can carry packages weighing up to 10kg, said he was concerned that drones, as well as cocaine, ketamine, methamphetamine and “marijuana bales”, could be used to smuggle guns, explosives or other weapons to prisoners, which could then be used in a prison break.
To talk of the audience Coffee House podcastMr Taylor said: “The other day a head of security sent me a list of the contents of a package that had arrived at their prison and it was quite surprising.”
A new wave of effective weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro were being flown to prisoners, as well as hair loss drugs like minoxidil and anabolic steroids that artificially boost muscle growth.
“Organized criminal gangs are able to deposit large amounts of contraband into prisons with real accuracy and often make huge amounts of money as a result,” he said.
Inspectors at HMP Manchester discovered inmates were removing electric kettles and using heating elements to melt holes in newly installed perspex windows in their cells to receive deliveries from drones.
Mr Taylor said workers at the window treatment company used by the prison were later threatened by criminal gangs at their homes.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said Times: “Our prisons are under siege from drones. Unless the government takes action, it’s only a matter of time before a weapon or explosive is delivered to an inmate. The anti-drone technology is there and ready to use; they just need to keep at it.”
The government is under pressure to take action to improve the prison system, where 91 prisoners have been accidentally released since April. Announcing the figure last week, Justice Secretary David Lammy warned that four wrongfully released prisoners could still be at large.
The government placed the blame on his Conservative predecessors, with a Number 10 spokesman saying: “The figures were “symptomatic of a system the government has inherited, a prison system that is under severe pressure.” [and] A failed criminal justice system.”
Last month, it was reported that teeth whitening kits, as well as weight-loss pills, were delivered to prisoners in Scotland. Elsewhere, “zombie” knives and other dangerous knives were brought in.
Footage published in June showed a drone delivering a package to the garden at HMP Wandsworth.
Tom Wheatley, president of the Prison Governors Association, said at the time that drones were “a significant and growing problem, with declines occurring every day”.
Ministry of Justice figures show that the incidence of drones in prisons has increased more than tenfold in the last five years.
A total of 1,712 drones have been detected by March 2025; this number was seen almost five times a day; this figure was only 138 in the same period up to March 2021.
