The prison drugs crisis has reached ‘endemic’ levels, MPs warn, as drone sightings soar 1,140 per cent
Security in prisons is “critically weakened” by the drugs crisis, which has reached “endemic levels” as drone sightings have increased by 1,140 per cent, MPs have warned.
The cross-party justice committee called for urgent action after finding almost four in 10 prisoners admitted it was easy to get drugs and a “menu” of illegal substances was offered in many prisons.
A major report published by the committee on Friday warned of the “unacceptable” human cost of the crisis, with 136 drug-related deaths in prisons in England and Wales between December 2022 and 2024.
Debt inmates were sometimes forced to try new drugs to entertain other inmates, while staff desensitization to daily pain was a sign of a “failing system”, MPs heard.
The report found that 11 percent of men and 19 percent of women said they had had a problem with drugs, alcohol or over-the-counter medications since arriving in prison.
The committee called on the Ministry of Justice to step up drug testing, including accelerating plans to introduce wastewater surveillance systems, and invest in electronic drone countermeasures known as “Sky Fence” systems.
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.
MPs fear drones pose an “extremely serious threat” to prison security amid fears they could be used to transport drugs and mobile phones, as well as weapons and potential weapons and explosives. They also heard evidence of drones capable of lifting a “medium-sized person.”
Despite the growing drone threat, the committee found other traditional means of introducing drugs into prisons, through visits or dumping, were more common.
The committee called on the prison service to tighten vetting procedures to bring staff into line with other law enforcement agencies, such as the police.
Committee chairman Andy Slaughter said: “The committee’s findings during this investigation were serious: Simply put, the drugs crisis in the prison system has reached ‘endemic’ levels and fostered a ‘dangerous culture of acceptance that must be broken’.
“The supply of drugs to prisons by organized crime gangs, supported by inflated profits, puts constant pressure.
“This is compounded by the failure to address and reduce the underlying demand for drugs and combat the alarming increase in the use of advanced drone technology.”
In July the government announced £900,000 in cash support to combat drones bringing drugs and weapons into prisons; In addition, there is also £40 million already used to improve security, such as reinforcing windows and installing netting.
Meanwhile, MPs heard the pressures of the established culture “make it extraordinarily difficult to resist drug use” as one prisoner is exposed to the “menu of drugs” in prisons.
Drugs were also found selling for up to 100 times their street value in the prison market, which is dominated by organized crime groups.
It was emphasized that powerful synthetic opioids such as nitazenes are a “volatile threat”. The dangerous drugs, which can be hundreds of times more powerful than morphine, have already been linked to 750 deaths in the UK between 1 June 2023 and 28 August 2025; four of these occurred at HMP Parc in Wales in 2024.
Mr Slaughter said: “Highly potent New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) are driving increases in violence, debt and fatal overdoses, with the current testing regime failing to keep up.”
It is also feared the new substances pose a greater danger to prison staff, who are at risk of unknowingly inhaling the drugs after four officers at one prison fell ill.
Keeping prisoners locked in their cells for 22 hours leads them to use drugs to relieve boredom, MPs said, calling on ministers to expand access to education, work programs and other activities to reduce demand.
Mr Slaughter added: “Without urgent reform and investment to address profitable supply networks, differences in treatment provision and purposeful activities, as well as the poor physical condition of property, prisons will remain unstable, unsafe and unable to take control of the drugs crisis.”
Former government drugs czar Mike Trace, now chief executive of the Forward Trust, called on ministers to “recognise the scale of the challenge and accept the justice committee’s recommendation to take decisive action to turn things around”.
