Nine people were jailed after a failed drone smuggling attempt at HMP Parc helped police catch a trafficking network. Daniel Yeboah and Shaun Lau were ringleaders who directed accomplices from prison cells. Hayley Price and her daughter Kaci-Leigh Stones attempted a drone delivery to HMP Parc in August 2023, but it crashed into a tree. Police stopped Price and Stones and found cannabis wrapped in cling-film, mobile phones, SIM cards, and drone parts.
Daniel Yeboah arranged for cocaine and fentanyl to be imported, paying a great-grandmother to accept a delivery disguised as cookies. Shaun Lau employed dealers to sell drugs on Nottingham streets and send drugs and phones into his jail. The gang's operation involved 'super heroin' mixed with fentanyl. Daniel Yeboah used an illegally held phone in prison to direct drug operations.
Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and could be fatal in one dose. The police were particularly worried because fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid that has cost many thousands of lives in the United States.
A search of Hayley Price's home found traces of heroin, cocaine, cannabis, and MDMA, along with deal bags and scales. Price's supplier was Daniel Yeboah, who controlled the drugs market from his prison cell at HMP Buckley Hall. Mobile phone messages revealed Hayley Price boasted about earning £29,000 in one month from Shaun Lau to buy 1kg of cocaine.
Angela Price was paid £250 to accept a parcel of cocaine disguised as cookies from Trinidad and Tobago. Nottingham Crown Court heard Angela Price was a great-grandmother who prepared supplies of cocaine, heroin, cannabis and fentanyl for wholesalers and dealers. Some of Daniel Yeboah's imported drugs were shipped to Hayley Price's 61-year-old mother in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire.
The cannabis intended for Shaun Lau at HMP Parc was over 1.1kg. The drugs operation was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. According to Detective Inspector James McDonagh, it was a wholesale control hub for drug dealers in several areas in and around Nottingham.
Jason Thompson, a prison officer at HMP Isis, helped smuggle cannabis, mobile phones, and USB sticks into the prison over five months, earning £400-£600 per drop. Smuggling methods at HMP Isis included Thompson carrying items through staff entrances or couriers handing packages during social visits. Jason Thompson smuggled items on 7 February 2024, attempted another drop on 10 February, and brought in 190g on 14 February but abandoned it in a toilet.
Thompson and others were part of a 'well-organised and large conspiracy to smuggle contraband into HMP Isis between February and July 2024'.
Video footage from inside HMP Isis showed gang members Rama Wato and Olusegan Shobanjo exchanging a small package. Rama Wato was a 'trusted and regular smuggler' who earned around £3,500 for his role. The conspiracy at HMP Isis involved at least 18 organized attempts, with phone evidence showing 28 packages delivered or attempted. According to prosecutor Sam Barker, Thompson and others were part of a 'well-organised and large conspiracy to smuggle contraband into HMP Isis between February and July 2024'.
Drones bring 'large quantities' of drugs into HMP Manchester (Strangeways) due to broken or insecure windows. Around 38% of prisoners at HMP Manchester tested positive for drugs in random tests. Inmates at HMP Manchester melt window panes using kettle filaments to reach drug packages from drones.
Amanda Meadowcroft and Bradley Couzins tried to smuggle 14kg of 'low-quality' cocaine through Manchester Airport. Bradley Couzins masterminded the scheme, directing his mother to carry cocaine from the Dominican Republic on April 22 last year. Border Force agents stopped Amanda Meadowcroft and found the packages had only trace levels of cocaine.
Bradley Couzins assaulted an NCA officer by smashing his phone with handcuffs. Amanda Meadowcroft was serving a suspended sentence for importing 30kg of cannabis when she attempted to smuggle cocaine. Amanda Meadowcroft was sentenced to seven years, and Bradley Couzins to seven years and six months.
If the cocaine had been high quality, it would have been worth up to £294,000.
Shaun Lau and Daniel Yeboah continued running their drug empire after being released from prison. When Shiero Marquis was arrested in March 2025, his car contained nearly six kilograms of cannabis.
The specific security measures implemented at HMP Parc and HMP Isis to prevent future drone and insider smuggling attempts have not been disclosed. How widespread the use of fentanyl is in UK prisons and on the streets, and the current death toll attributed to it, remains unclear. The identities and roles of the other seven people jailed in the HMP Parc case beyond the named ringleaders and accomplices are not detailed in available reports.
The total financial value of the drug operations across all the cases mentioned, including HMP Isis, HMP Parc, and HMP Manchester, has not been fully quantified. How many prison officers across England and Wales are currently under investigation for similar smuggling activities is unknown.