Drone carried food, marijuana and cigarettes towards the South Carolina prison

Inmates in a South Carolina prison in the US tried to fly-in some crab by done. Photo / Supplied

A drone dropped supplies that seemed destined for a crab boil at a South Carolina prison this week, staff said - a delivery that suggested inmates were planning a holiday feast.

Among the items that arrived at the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville on Monday were steak, crab legs, two bags of marijuana, a green pack of Marlboro cigarettes and a small container of Old Bay seasoning, photos from the South Carolina Department of Corrections show.

The food was wrapped in a bag from the Piggly Wiggly grocery store chain, the department said today.

Law enforcement captured the delivery before it could reach prisoners. No arrests have been made in connection with the incident as the department investigates.

“Seems some folks were planning an early holiday Old Bay crab boil and steak dinner along with their marijuana and cigarettes - all dropped by a drone at Lee CI,” the department wrote on social media, alongside an emoji of a red crab and the hashtags “Contraband Christmas” and “WeAreCorrections”.

Chrysti Shain, a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections, said the prison experiences “nightly attacks” of drones seeking to drop drugs into United States prison yards, “but this was a bit unusual, even for us”.

“I’m guessing the inmates who were expecting this package are a bit crabby,” she added.

Smugglers have used drones to try to get contraband - such as drugs, weapons and mobile phones - over prison fences for years.

A 2023 report published by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the Justice Department, said the advancing technology of drones was a growing concern and prison staff would need better detection strategies to address the illicit deliveries.

Oklahoma’s Department of Corrections piloted a drone programme in October to prevent contraband smuggling.

For a 45-day trial period, a fleet of drones would help staff at one correctional facility survey prison grounds and alert staff to suspected illegal activity. The department said it would then evaluate whether to continue the programme and expand it to other prisons in the state.

Under South Carolina law, getting contraband to prisoners is a offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The Lee Correctional Institution had an incident that mirrored this week’s more than a decade ago, when officers found a drone in the bushes outside the prison.

It had been carrying phones, marijuana and tobacco. At least one person was sentenced to 15 years for attempting to smuggle contraband into a prison.

“The technology is getting better, and we have to figure out different ways to fight back,” Stephanie Givens, a corrections department spokeswoman, told Reuters at the time.

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