A married couple was arrested for allegedly using a drone to smuggle tobacco into a Melaka prison, with police seizing the drone and mobile phones.
MELAKA: A married couple was arrested on Wednesday (July 15) on suspicion of using a drone without a valid permit to smuggle tobacco into Sungai Udang Prison.
Acting Melaka Tengah police chief Supt Halim Abas said the 46-year-old man and his 27-year-old wife were detained by personnel from the D4 Branch of the Melaka Tengah District Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Division at a homestay in Taman Keris Satria at about 4 pm on the same day.
Preliminary investigations found that the male suspect had operated an Air 2S model drone from the homestay, located about 313.48 metres from the prison, at around 1.20 am on Wednesday.
“The drone intrusion was detected by a prison officer on monitoring duty using the Prison Department’s technical surveillance equipment, namely a drone detector.
Halim said the drone detector recorded the drone entering the prison compound three times and was able to identify the operator’s location, the drone’s flight path and stopping point, the time of the operation, and the type of drone used.
He said the suspect admitted during initial investigations that he had flown the drone into the prison compound to scout a suitable location to deliver tobacco to an inmate during a planned drop later that night.
According to Halim, prison authorities have recorded the information, and efforts are underway to identify the inmate involved.
Although no contraband was found at the location where the drone hovered, police seized two boxes containing the drone and its spare parts, two packets of tobacco, a weighing scale and four mobile phones during the arrest.
Preliminary investigations also found that the suspect’s wife denied any involvement and claimed she was unaware of her husband’s activities.
“The male suspect has been remanded for four days, while his wife was remanded for one day beginning yesterday. The case is being investigated under Section 447 of the Penal Code and Section 58 of the Prison Act 1955,” he said.
Halim added that the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) would also be notified to take appropriate action over the alleged offence of operating a drone without authorisation under Regulation 143 of the Civil Aviation Regulations 2016.
