Drone delivers McDonald's to inmate at a prison in Quebec, Canada

An inmate at a Canadian prison in the province of Quebec had McDonald's food delivered right to his cell window – by drone. The incident took place last week at the Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines prison: at around three in the morning, a drone delivered chicken nuggets, French fries, sauce and some alcohol.

The window was so close that the recipient only had to stick his hand between the bars and take the package. The detection system did not spot the drone because “one or more security cameras” were not working. Guards learned of the delivery only after the fact.

“He was laughing and said he could order anything”

According to Mike Bolduc, head of the union of prison guards, the convict was mocking the staff. “He was eating fries and found it very funny,” Bolduc complained. The inmate, he said, laughed and claimed he could have anything delivered here, while the detector did not register the drone. “And we are supposed to be at the cutting edge of technology,” the union leader added.

The Correctional Service of Canada confirmed the incident but did not disclose details “for security reasons and because of the investigation.” It limited itself to a general statement: any attempt to bring “unauthorized items” into a correctional facility, including by drone, poses a risk to both staff and the inmates themselves.

“Next time, a loaded weapon?”

“We have reached a critical point where a McDonald's menu is delivered to an inmate. What will the next step be? A loaded weapon? That truly frightens us,” Bolduc said. According to him, guards are already facing attempts to smuggle ceramic weapons into prisons, which are harder to detect during searches than metal ones. “It is an incredible danger,” he stressed.

The Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines prison is located about 55 kilometers north of Montreal. It was built in 1984, is designed for roughly 90 convicts and is intended for the most dangerous inmates serving their sentences.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz