2 arrested after drone used to sneak drugs into prison, MDOC officials say

PEARL, Miss. (WLBT) - Two men are in jail, accused of using a drone to sneak contraband into a prison.

The incident happened at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl.

Mississippi Department of Corrections officials say 33-year-old John Ross and 18-year-old Joshua Corban carried marijuana, a cell phone and charger, headphones and several cigarette lighters on a drone and tried to get the material over the prison’s fences.

The drone that was confiscated by MDOC.(MDOC)

Instead, the drone got stuck in security nets above the facility’s razor wire fences.

Rankin County Sheriff’s Office identified Ross and Corban as the suspects by tracking the drone’s flight data and matching an address in Vicksburg where the drone had been used frequently.

MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain said the drone has been confiscated by prison officials who are now using it for themselves.

“They tried to use the drone to help their friends—now it’s going to help us. We’re reprogramming their drone now to use at Parchman so it’s working for the law instead of against it,” Cain said.