Staff members at a Dublin prison believe prisoners had a Chinese takeaway delivered to the prison via drone.

A report in the Mirror says that staff members found food containers in bins in the yard of Wheatfield Prison in Dublin, leading them to believe the prisoners had used a drone to drop the food into the prison grounds.

Speaking to the paper, a source inside the prison said: "There’s no other conceivable way a Chinese takeaway could get into the prison other than by a drone.

"That’s what the staff in the jail believe anyway. The food containers were found about six weeks ago.

"Prison staff were left scratching their heads as to how it got there and a drone was the only possible explanation.


"It goes to show inmates will go to great lengths to get what they want."

Drones have reportedly been used in recent years to drop drugs and other contraband items like phones into prisons. There are large nets covering the yards in prisons, but it is suggested prisoners are creating human pyramids to grab contraband dropped by drones onto the netting.

The source added that prison staff have considered whether a no-fly zone could be enacted around the prison to stem to flow of drugs into the prison. They said prisoners are increasingly using a drug named spice as it is easy to access and cheap.

The source added: "It would appear drones are being used a lot more than they ever were, it’s a regular occurrence now.

"A lot of the drugs appear to be getting in that way. There’s a running joke it’s like dial-a-drug service as you just get word of what you want, cocaine, spice or whatever, and it’s delivered in by a drone.

"Not all shipments get through but the vast majority of those looking for the drugs are willing to take the chance.


"The use of drones to try and drop drugs into the jail yard has many staff questioning if it’s possible to get a no-fly zone about the prison.

"The drug spice appears to be the drug of choice as it’s cheap and is extremely strong."

Spice (AKA K2) is a combination a wide array of laboratory-made chemicals designed to mimic the effects of the well-known psychoactive compound in marijuana called THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol.

A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service told the Mirror: "I have not heard of any such delivery/incident.

"I won’t for obvious reasons go into details about the size of the holes in the nets but I can tell you they cover all the yard."