Three men were arrested in Jefferson County Friday, Dec. 29, attempting to fly a variety contraband items to the Washington State Prison grounds using an unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV, commonly referred to as a drone.

A spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which has referred to the incident as “Operation Flight Canceled,” said that officers were initially made aware of the incident by an unnamed citizen who called in a suspicious sighting.

Derek A. Spugeon, 17, of Augusta and Harvey Simpson, also 17, of Augusta, were intercepted and taken into custody while leaving a privately owned wooded area, the spokesman said. Tylub-Deen El-Amin, 34, of Columbia, S.C., was discovered in a nearby vehicle.

The spokesman said that the men were attempting to use the drone to fly packages of tobacco, narcotics, pre-paid cellular telephones, chargers and other various items onto the prison’s grounds. The prison, located in Davisboro, is roughly three to four miles from the site where the men were apprehended.

The spokesman estimated the prison value of all of the items at around $20,000.

“It looks like they were attempting to use some type of hanging device from the drone to drop the items either in or near the prison yard,” the spokesman said. “In prison a cell phone like this can sell for $500 and one cigarette can sell for as much as $5.”

The spokesman went on to say that officers in Washington County said that there have been as many as a dozen illegal drone drops in and around the prison over the last year.

The investigation into Operation Flight Canceled is on-going and the spokesman said that more arrests are anticipated.

“We encourage anyone who sees anything strange or unusual to call local law enforcement immediately,” the spokesman said. “We will be happy to look into it and see if there is anything criminal about the activities witnessed.”

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Drone seized attempting to fly contraband into Washington State Prison