Calhoun Sheriff’s Dept. seeing large amounts of drone drug smugglers

MORGAN, Ga. (WALB) - Hundreds of drones have been seized by Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department over the years.

Josh Hilton, Calhoun County Sheriff, said they currently are holding 50 or more drones, 25 to 30 of which are being used for ongoing investigations.

He said the drones come from people trying to traffic drugs into the prison.

The department turns the drones into something positive for the community. There was a recent exchange between them and Seminole County Sheriff’s Office where they traded drones for a new car they needed.

“I am selling them, I’m trading them. I’ve helped other agencies out that’s needed one in the past,” Hilton said.

He said he’s been open in the past to selling to different organizations that need them. Some unusable ones are thrown away.

They get drones of all sizes both manmade and purchased. They are also seeing fewer people on foot throwing bags or Gatorade bottles over prison fencing.

Hilton has been doing this for more than a decade and said he sees multiple attempts of drug smugglers a week.

“Some weeks it’s seven, others it is one. It really does change week by week. Sometimes we get multiple different gangs on the same day,” Hilton said.

When they get caught, it’s more than 10 years in prison. Hilton said the judges do a great job prosecuting the criminals.

“If they’re (The drones) in a short distance, (they) could probably do five pounds. Five pounds of meth, five pounds of ecstasy,” Hilton said.

When laced with other drugs like fentanyl, it is a huge killer. The biggest drones can carry hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs. That’s why Hilton said they’re probably coming back.

“I’ve got some really good guys, they work hard on it. They know what to look for. It won’t take long to look for what people are doing and people that are coming in from out of town,” Hilton said.

Hilton said they are well-staffed and ready for the next round of attempted smuggling.

The community remains a top priority for him because often the people who are trying to send drugs into the prison look for cars in the area to loot or steal.

Copyright 2022 WALB. All rights reserved.