Fight Breaks Out At Prison After Drone Drug Drop

A fight broke out among inmates at an Ohio prison after a drone was used to drop a package of drugs into the yard, according to officials.

The package, dropped at the Mansfield Correctional Institution on 29 July, contained almost a quarter of an ounce of heroin, two ounces of marijuana and more than five ounces of tobacco.

JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, told the Mansfield News Journal the agency was taking steps to improve drone detection after a number of instances of security breaches.

Video footage apparently showed the drone over the prison recreation yard just before the fight began.

An investigation found the drone had dropped a package intended for an inmate in the north recreation yard, and it was then thrown over a fence into the south recreation yard.

Corrections officers used pepper spray to control the fight.

Around 75 inmates in the north yard and 130 in the south were strip-searched, run through a cell sensor and checked by a clinic after the fight.

Nine inmates were placed in solitary confinement. No injuries were reported.

Last year, Ohio Highway Patrol officers increased efforts to prevent criminals throwing contraband over prison fences.