Gangs in the United Kingdom are using drones equipped with heat-sensing technology to locate their rivals marijuana crops to steal them. The hydroponic lamps used to grow the crops allow the drones to locate heat signatures so their owners can move in for a heist.
“They are fair game,” one unnamed 33-year old told a local newspaper. “It is not like I’m using my drone to see if people have nice televisions. I am just after drugs to steal and sell. If you break the law then you enter me and my drone’s world.”
Fortunately, “half the time we don’t even need to use violence to get the crop,” the criminal told the press.
Local newspapers have detailed the phenomena. “According to local newspaper Halesowen News, a spate of violent robberies have taken place in Halesowen, Cradley Heath and Oldbury since the criminals know that they will not be reported to the police.” It sounds like the perfect crime.
The drones are fairly cheap, one criminal explained, “I bought my first drone for a few hundred quid and learnt how to fly it over wasteland and fitted a Wi-Fi camera to it so I could look into people’s windows.”
In the U.S., FAA has banned the commercial use of drones, but the UK has no such ban.
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