Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
A suspicious car, a drone ready for take-off and about 1.4 kilograms of hashish. That is the outcome of an operation carried out by the Prison Officer Corps on the evening of 4 November, around 9.30pm, near the Casa Circondariale prison in Syracuse. The intervention led to the arrest in the act of a man and a woman and to a criminal complaint against a third person.
The controls were triggered by monitoring of the prison’s CCTV systems, through which officers spotted a suspicious car in the areas adjacent to the prison. The prompt intervention of the staff, coordinated by the unit commander and supported by deputy commissioners, inspectors and officers on duty, made it possible to stop the vehicle before the plan could be carried out.
During the search, the drug and a drone were found and seized; the drone is believed to have been intended for an attempt to smuggle the drug into the prison.
The incident refocuses attention on the phenomenon of illicit trafficking targeting the Syracuse prison, where, as the provincial health authority (ASP) recalls, two other people were recently arrested in connection with the seizure of about two kilograms of drugs.
The provincial and local secretariat of the OSAPP union expressed appreciation for the officers’ work, highlighting the professionalism and spirit of sacrifice they demonstrated. At the same time, it pointed to the growing sophistication of attempts to smuggle drugs in using technology such as drones.
OSAPP also drew attention to internal problems with work organisation. The union reports that it submitted a dossier of about 200 pages to the competent authorities on shift patterns between February and June 2026, denouncing alleged shifts of up to 22 consecutive hours and major disparities in the distribution of night shifts.
Hence the call to shed full light on any managerial responsibilities and to intervene in staff working conditions.
Finally, the union urges the Ministry of Justice to equip Syracuse prison with adequate electronic drone-shielding systems to strengthen the institution’s security and prevent further attempts to smuggle in drugs.
