Aircraft Observed Dropping Packages To Waiting Customers

Two people in Riverside, CA have been arrested on charges of involvement in a drug operation that used a drone to deliver packages to customers.

Ashley Carroll, 31 and Benjamin Baldassarre, 39, were arrested last week following a raid on an alleged drug house, according to a report from television station KABC. During the raid, authorities found narcotics scattered throughout the home, including some in the bedroom of a 9-year-old girl.

Before the raid, authorities conducted a surveillance operation after learning that a drone was reportedly being used to deliver drugs from the home. They observed the aircraft leave the back yard of the home and fly to a nearby parking lot where it would drop packages to waiting customers.

Carroll and Baldassarre were charged with possession of controlled substances, possession of controlled substances for the purposes of sales, conspiracy to commit a crime, and child endangerment. Child Protective Services was called, and the child was eventually released to her mother, who was not in the home at the time.

During the raid, police found the drone, as well as a variety of controlled substances.

(Mug shots provided by the Riverside Police Department)

FMI: Original Report