Gang Jailed for Drone Smuggling Scheme Dubbed 'Uber Eats for Prisoners'
A criminal gang responsible for smuggling drugs, weapons, and mobile phones into multiple UK prisons using drones has been sentenced to prison terms. The sophisticated operation, which authorities have compared to food delivery services like Deliveroo or Uber Eats, involved dozens of illicit drops at correctional facilities across London and the South East of England.
Orchestrated Conspiracy
Shafaghatullah Mohseni, 29, masterminded the conspiracy between 2 December 2024 and 26 February 2025, coordinating deliveries through phone calls with inmates and their relatives. He received over £30,000 in payments for the drone flights, earning the courtroom nickname "grand delivery driver." Six accomplices—Hashim Al-Hussaini, 28, Mohammed Hamoud, 22, Faiz Salah, 29, Zahar Essaghi, 51, Mustafa Ibrahim, 30, and Emanuel Fisniku, 25—assisted as lookouts and drivers, receiving payments for their roles in the illicit shipments.
Harrow Crown Court, sitting at Hendon Magistrates' Court, heard that the gang targeted at least nine prisons including Wormwood Scrubs, Brixton, Pentonville, Wandsworth, Norwich, and Leicester. Prosecutors revealed that the Metropolitan Police's Operation Buzzbin investigation documented 70 different visits to prisons during the 86-day conspiracy period, with most operations involving multiple flights totaling approximately 140 drone deliveries.
Contraband Contents
The smuggled items included:
- Packages containing cannabis, Xanax, and Valium
- Tiny mobile phones designed to evade detection by prison guards
- At least two flick knives among the planned contraband
- USB sticks and other prohibited articles
Judge James Lofthouse described the operation as a "well-oiled conspiracy" that prison staff struggled to intercept, even when they witnessed drones making deliveries at cell windows. Staff shortages meant guards could only watch through door hatches as "prisoners were stuffing items behind pipes," but by the time sufficient personnel were available for searches, the illicit items had disappeared.
Sentencing and Impact
Mohseni received a sentence of five years and three months as the conspiracy leader. Al-Hussaini, Hamoud, and Essaghi were each sentenced to 33 months in prison, Salah received 31 months, Ibrahim was jailed for 30 months, and Fisniku received 27 months. All seven defendants must serve 40 percent of their sentences before being eligible for release on licence.
Judge Lofthouse condemned the gang's actions, stating: "Those who conspire for profit to flood our prisons with drugs and mobile phones, and are heedless to whatever else including weapons they smuggle in, facilitate further criminality, and undermine the general running and good order of our prisons." He criticized the "corrosive" impact on prison safety and security from drones arriving with packages "as if by Uber Eats or Deliveroo."
Police Investigation Details
The Metropolitan Police revealed that the gang was responsible for 75 percent of all drone drops into London prisons during the investigation period. Police arrested Mohseni, Al-Hussaini, Hamoud, and Fisniku on 26 February 2025 while they were traveling by car to HMP Norwich after receiving a tip about a planned knife smuggling attempt. Officers discovered a sports bag containing a drone, two packages with phones and cannabis, and a knife.
Prosecutor Sam Barker explained that while conspirators "may not have been aware" they conveyed a flick knife in one package, "the fact is they did convey one of the knives." The prosecution accepted that defendants might not have packed the packages themselves, leading to initial charges of conspiring to convey a knife into prison being dropped.
Financial Transactions and Wider Concerns
Financial investigations revealed that Mohseni received £26,785 from 14 individuals directly linked to serving prisoners at facilities where he made deliveries. He stood at the centre of a "web of financial transfers," receiving money and distributing payments to his co-conspirators. Defence counsel Michael McAlinden stated that Mohseni began the offending to pay off debts.
The court heard additional details about the operation's mechanics, including one incident where a drone crashed into a woman's backyard near HMP Wandsworth. She reported that a man knocked on her door in the early hours attempting to retrieve the drone, but she refused him entry.
Judge Lofthouse commended Metropolitan Police officers for their investigative work, particularly noting one officer who traveled to the Netherlands and China to secure crucial evidence from drone data records.
This case highlights growing concerns about drone smuggling in correctional facilities. In July 2025, Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor warned about increased risks posed by drones for smuggling drugs into prisons, urging the prison service and government to "get a grip of this issue" through technology and intelligence collaboration to prevent more serious incidents.
