Contraband seizures in Irish prisons are on the rise, with gangs turning to increasingly high-tech drones to make drops into prison yards.
New figures show there were almost 400 such deliveries detected in 2025, but prison officers fear this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Data from the Irish Prison Service (IPS) recorded 384 of them in 2025 at three Dublin prisons where such activity is measured – 212 were detected at Wheatfield Prison in Clondalkin, 58 at Cloverhill Prison, and 49 at Mountjoy.
While efforts to crack down on the tactic have led to a reduction in such incidents at these locations this year, drone drops are believed to be rampant at other prisons in the system.
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The IPS has invested €5 million on the installation of metallic mesh netting in an effort to prevent or reduce the number of contraband drops made by drones. Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has said the netting method was “proving effective”.
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The push towards metal netting in particular was due to the increased prevalence of non-metallic netting being burned or cut to allow for deliveries into prison yards.
Since metallic netting was installed at Wheatfield, the number of drone incursions has been cut by nearly three-quarters, down 73 per cent – just 12 deliveries were detected in the first four months of the year, according to the IPS.
Its data suggests that gangs are reverting to more traditional smuggling methods, and the number of arrests has increased. Some 20 arrests have been made so far in 2026, 56 per cent higher than in the same period in 2025.
Such is the perceived effectiveness of the netting that prison officers are calling for its installation across the entire prison estate.
A source with knowledge of the prison system suggested that drone deliveries were a “multimillion euro industry”. The activities are linked to gangs, which are increasingly operating in the prison system.
The number of recognised gangs nearly doubled in the past year, up 80 per cent to 34, IPS director general Caron McCaffrey said at the recent Prison Officers Association conference.
The level of co-ordination is such that drones are being used to provide inmates with the equipment and tools necessary to create “hides” for drugs inside their cells.
Despite this, contraband seizures were considerably elevated in 2025, which is understood to reflect a high level of contraband in the system. Prison officers seized 1,647 phones last year, a 33 per cent increase on the 1,236 of the previous year.
The number of drug seizures across the prison estate increased by 290 to 1,325 this past year, up 28 per cent, but one of the most worrying trends, officers say, is the increase in weapons found.
A total of 441 weapons were seized by officers in 2025, up nearly 70 per cent from just 260 the previous year.
