Drones nabbed dropping drugs, mobile phones and blades into Port Phillip Prison

Blades, the drug ice and mobile phones have been seized after the they were dropped via drone into Port Phillip Prison.

A cache of drugs has been intercepted after being dropped by drone into a maximum security Melbourne jail.

Buprenorphine, ice, mobile phones and blades were seized after staff at privately run Port Phillip Prison pounced last weekend.

Police and prison authorities are investigating the source of the shipment and who was to be its recipient after the smuggling operation was busted on Saturday.

The items would have been worth many thousands of dollars on the jailhouse black market.

Buprenorphine, which can be prescribed as a substitute for heroin, is a major problem drug in prisons.

It can be hidden within paper or thin wafer strips, making it harder to detect and assisting smugglers in getting in a large number of doses.

Drones have emerged as a major security issue in the corrections system in recent years.

Their use is believed to have heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic as visits, traditionally a major source of contraband, were cancelled.

Port Phillip is in an industrial area of Truganina in the western suburbs and houses some of the state’s toughest criminals.

A cache of drugs was intercepted Port Phillip Prison. Picture: David Caird

A spokesman for the jail’s operator, G4S Australia and New Zealand, confirmed a drone was intercepted on the weekend.

The spokesman said emergency procedures were enacted and the contraband seized.

“The matter has now been referred to Victoria Police and the prison Intelligence Unit is continuing investigations,” the G4S spokesman said.

A major seizure of drugs and other banned items, also dropped via a drone, was made at Barwon Prison in October.

A package containing buprenorphine, heroin, a knife, security tools and tech gear was deposited in an outdoor garden area.

The package had been wrapped in grass to provide camouflage.

That matter is also the subject of a police inquiry.

The State Government banned the use of drones near prisons two years ago.

It recently told the Herald Sun technology was helping augment perimeter patrols, CCTV and intelligence-gathering in the fight against aerial smuggling missions.