BRUNSWICK COUNTY, Va. — A drug-carrying drone that the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office says was bound for a Virginia correctional facility missed its intended target and landed outside a school.
The drone was carrying a package that contained marijuana, tobacco, cellphones, and a USB‑C-to-lightning converter, investigators said.
Sheriff's deputies were called to Brunswick Academy in Lawrenceville at about 8:24 a.m. local time Monday when school employees reported that they found "a suspicious package" outside the school.
"During our investigation, it was determined that this package was dropped around 5:40 a.m. due to the fact that the witness saw a drone during that time land on the grounds," Brunswick County Sheriff Brian Roberts wrote in an email. "Soon thereafter, the witness saw a small dark-colored sedan come into the parking lot of the school and grab the drone."
The people in the car left the package behind, according to investigators.
![Brunswick drone 04.jpg](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/94ee15f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/960x1280+0+0/resize/960x1280!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F21%2Fc6%2F5cbca3314e128c44e118f005072c%2Fbrunswick-drone-04.jpg)
"Based on our investigation, it is obviously apparent that the package was intended to be dropped at the adjacent property of the Lawrenceville Correctional Center, which is operated by a private company named The GEO Group," Roberts said. "We have had numerous calls for service at the prison this year to include other drone sightings alleging the same criminal activity."
![Brunswick drone 05.jpg](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ea8e228/2147483647/strip/true/crop/600x800+0+0/resize/600x800!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3b%2F8e%2Ff73b7ba54323b349c61a541664cc%2Fbrunswick-drone-05.jpg)
Roberts said the investigation was ongoing.
This story was originally published by Wayne Covil on Scripps station WTVR in Richmond, Virginia.