Drone drops heroin, marijuana and tobacco in Ohio prison yard

A drone dropped a package of heroin, marijuana and tobacco in the recreation yard of an Ohio prison last week, sparking a fight among inmates trying to pick up the contraband, prison officials said on Tuesday.

"Upon reviewing the cameras, it was determined that a drone passed over the recreation yards immediately before the fight began," the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said in an incident report.

There were no significant injuries to staff or inmates in the July 27 fight, which was broken up by corrections officers using pepper spray at the Mansfield Correctional Institution.

The prison, located about 70 miles southwest of Cleveland, houses about 2,700 inmates, according to its website.

The package was recovered and contained about 145 grams of tobacco (five ounces), 65 grams (two ounces) of marijuana, and nearly 7 grams (0.2 ounces) of heroin, it said.

Last year, a drone was used to try to smuggle phones, marijuana and tobacco into a South Carolina maximum security prison, but it crashed outside the facility's walls.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by Eric Beech)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/04/us-usa-ohio-prison-idUSKCN0Q928E20150804