Drone smuggling hits record levels: how prisons can strengthen detection with LiDAR

Drone-enabled smuggling is quickly becoming one of the most disruptive security challenges to prisons across Europe. While the technology itself is widely accessible and relatively inexpensive, the impact to custodial and correctional environment can be significant – from the delivery of phones and drugs to weapons capable of escalating violence and undermining control. Recent incidents in the UK and across other European markets highlight how quickly this threat is evolving and why traditional security technologies are struggling to keep pace.

New data from UK Government shows 1,712 drone incidents at UK prisons between April 2024 and March 2025, a 43% year-on-year rise and a 1,140% increase over five years. In France, two inmates escaped prison in Dijon using drone-delivered saw blades. While recent Sky News footage and interviews with prison staff show drones hovering over sites such as HMP Manchester and HMP Wandsworth, lowering packages toward cell windows or exercise yards before returning to their pilots. Governors described the activity as highly organised rather than isolated incidents.

And while counter-drone operations at Manchester and Wandsworth have led to the arrests of nine people, a National Audit Office report cited in the Sky News coverage concluded that the UK Government and prison service have been slow to respond to this growing threat. In response, the Government has announced a £900,000 investment for a nationwide crackdown on drone drops into prison.