An almost silent hum and a fleeting shadow across the night sky – the operation required the utmost discretion and followed a well-trodden path. A drone flew stealthily over the prison walls,

then began a controlled descent towards its intended recipient. All the inmate had to do was reach out and retrieve the load carried by the aircraft. Mission accomplished. The drone returned to its operator and disappeared into the shadows, ready for its next mission.

At the end of September, a drone delivery network was dismantled in Loire-Atlantique. Four people, including three brothers, were arrested. They were accused of delivering numerous cell phones and over 1.5 kilograms of drugs to four prisons in the west of the country.

While the seizure was significant, the method was not unusual. In recent months, drone deliveries were made to the prisons in Gradignan (southwestern France), Nîmes, Beauvais, Strasbourg, Roanne (central France), Ploemeur (north-western France), as well as Perpignan and Lyon.

The items delivered were varied: cell phones, SIM cards, cocaine, edged weapons, but above all, cannabis resin. Hence the nickname given by security guards to this new practice: "Uber shit," a term also used for home drug deliveries in general. Photo by Clément Bucco-Lechat, Wikimedia commons.