Officials say Bordelais Correctional Facility (BCF) is on high alert amid drone flights overhead, describing the situation as a serious security threat.
BCF officers have reported several drone sightings since early December 2023.
St. Lucia Times has learned that the sightings continued into January ‘almost every night’, usually between 9:00 and 10:00 pm.
Typically, two drones became visible at heights that prevented attempts to shoot them down.
Coming amid several recent attempts to throw contraband over the BCF perimeter fence, which resulted in BCF officers shooting and arresting one suspect, the presence of drones overhead has the facility concerned.
As a result, the authorities are considering a plan to address the flights, which they declared should not occur over the prison.
Authorisation to fly drones must come from the Civil Aviation Department (CAD).
The regulations prohibit flying within three miles of the George F. L. Charles International Airport in Castries and the Hewanorra International Airport in Vieux Fort.
Commercial operators who want to fly within a ‘No Drone Zone’ must request permission from the CAD.
According to the website Shotkit, laser pointers, anti-drone drones, and anti-drone jammers can help inhibit drone flying.
It’s a threat to the security of our prison/ island, there is no other choice but to shoot it down or jammed and confiscate it
All of these recent events tell me that some very high profile criminals (who wield a lot of power) are beimg housed at BCF!!!
We are so insecure in this country, yet we are entertaining open borders for OCES countries and duplicating our insecurity with CIP. There is nothing wrong with the programs, we are simply not capable of keeping up with those who may be more technologically savvy than us. We also have porous borders which should be secured first before we add to our insecurity.
The criminals are more sophisticated than the governing administration, police and judiciary and all combined. This is scary – but “the bureaucracy” want to gaslight us, as though we are ignorant fools.
This is not rocket science to figure out who is behind the drone surveillance. It should served as a realistic exposure of how technological advances the criminal world is. This shouldn’t be news to anyone given the readily available money to do so. Now being also realistic, this also exposed how frail and fragile along being neglectful with providing the availability of resources to curb situation like this. It is not news to law enforcement of how dangerous drones are given the capabilities and various uses it can be used for. Do we have in our armory the following, RPG, long range high powered sniper guns, long range night vision system, surface radar system etc. The mordernize weapons that are available from the very own colonial rule aka mother land and world super power which our PMs are eager to book a flight and support these so called super power highly military advance countries, you mean our PM and foreign affairs agents are so intellectually dumb, that they cannot ask for just a few of these armory? Why must we protect the USA border by exhausting our little resources to put our lives on the line to defend a country against drugs smuggling etc, that is like going to fight a war with your enemy have war tanks and you using clutches? Whether or not BCF houses a high level criminal, this further exposed our poor governance of this island. I won’t accept such narrative that our country is under resource with weaponry and security personnel are being paid millions. It is stupidity at its best.
I read all the comments, not one has a solution to this problem. Le me make a suggestion, shoot down the drone, that’s all. The prison ought to have high powered weapon.
@Josephine Antoine. Shooting at a moving drone and taking it down takes a lot of skill and ammunition. Unless you have anti-aircraft equipment the exercise might be one in futility. What’s mainly used is jamming equipment to combat the threat of drones.
I doubt the prison has drone nets or jamming equipment because they are operating on a shoestring budget.
@JA.. your comprehension skills extremely poor. Didn’t you read that the officers at BCF said the drone being observes between the hours 9am and later and that the drone flies beyond the range of being shoot down? Isn’t shooting down the drone were on the get go by the BCF officers? That person above your comment have some positive opinions which expose our current position.
dem people at the bcf eh seeing no drone that’s just drama to get more stuff from government bcf have their own drone flying every night so the drones their claiming to see it’s bcf drones which fly approximately 9 10 11 12 pm every night
This Should have been Delt with from Last year.Persons in Authority take too much For Granted in St.Lucia .That is why there’s so much Crime in St.Lucia