Saudi man gets 1,500 lashes, 15 years in prison for smuggling drugs into jail

Investigators said that the accused had smuggled drugs into the prison using a 45cm-by-45cm drone.

Riyadh: A Saudi Arabian court has awarded a man with 1,500 lashes and 15-year imprisonment for smuggling drugs into the Briman Prison in Jeddah with the help of a drone.

According to a report in the Independent, the man has also been convicted for selling the drone. Investigators said that the accused had sold at least 13 similar devices for around £1,000 each.

Authorities said that the man had used a 45cm-by-45cm sized drone to smuggle drugs into the prison. Authorities also alleged that the flow of drugs into the prison had continued for a period of over two years and that the accused had smuggled nearly 115 grams of cannabis and around 2,000 stimulant pills.

In their report, investigators said that the drone had taken off from a supermarket roof which was located very close to the prison. The report also said that the smuggled drugs were meant to be distributed to the prisoners, who would in return pay for it.

In a similar incident in August, London police had seized two drones while they were trying to smuggle Class B drugs and mobile phones into the Pentonville prison.