An unmanned aerial vehicle, known as a drone, crashed at noon this past Sunday, July 5, at the Tahíche prison, the only jail in Lanzarote.
Prison unions report that the device fell to the ground after colliding with one of the prison's security towers; while sources from the Lanzarote prison have reported that the aircraft was intercepted by the external security of the facilities and subsequently brought down.
Thus, the prison unions Agrupación de los Cuerpos de la Administración de Instituciones Penitenciarias (ACAIP) and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) have warned that this is the first drone to appear at the prison.
Usually, these devices are used to introduce drugs and latest-generation mobile phones. Prison sources have stated that it is not common for these types of aircraft to frequent the Lanzarote prison.
According to reports, the introduction of drugs using this system is usually done at night, to avoid detection. Although the noise can give them away, the technology is becoming increasingly silent. On this occasion, it was the sound of the aircraft that alerted security personnel.
"These drones generally carry drugs such as cocaine, heroin, or hashish, as well as latest-generation mobile phones, the seizure of which has increased exponentially in recent months," they revealed. For the moment, institutional sources have not confirmed whether it was used for these purposes this time.
Thus, these unions have warned that these drones are "compromising the functioning of the center and the fundamental objective of the penitentiary system," which is re-education and social reintegration.
The use of these aircraft not only endangers security within the prison but can also affect passengers on planes traveling to or from César Manrique Airport, as the prison is within the radius of influence.
External surveillance of the prison corresponds to the Guardia Civil and internal surveillance to prison officials, while they added that "in no case" are there "technological or material resources to deal with such a task, except for direct observation."