Last Updated on October 29, 2025 by Karl Thompson
Alexander Mullins was recently sentenced to 19 years in jail for running a drugs ring, while in jail himself as a serving prisoner!
Mullins used mobile phones which had been bought by his mother and smuggled into prison. The prosecution uncovered evidence of 73 such phones having been used between 2016-2019.
Mullins was at the centre of a large network of people who produced and supplied a range of drugs. They supplied Spice, Cannabis, Cocaine and Heroin both inside and outside of prisons.
Drones were used to import drugs into SwaleCliff Prison where Mulins was serving time. He also organised drone deliveries to WormWood Scrubs.
At Swalecliff the drugs were kept in another inmate’s cell. He used a mop handle with a hook to get the drugs off the parked drone. When officers searched his cell they found several packages of drugs.
The gang also imported Spice by impregnating paper with it and then smuggling the paper in during visits.
They were so brazen after a couple of years of operating they started using social media to advertise their services.
Mullins received a 19 year sentence to add on to his existing sentence. Around a dozen other members of the gang were also convicted, but most of them only received non-custodial sentences…
How can someone run a drugs ring from jail…?
Mobile phones are banned in SwaleCliff Prison. Mullins was able to get access to phones because of them being smuggled in, probably by drones, along with the drugs.
Once an inmate has a mobile phone it’s quite an easy thing to hide in a cell.
Swalecliffe was apparently very understaffed during the period 2016-19. This would have made it difficult to search cells regularly and for staff to spot night time drone deliveries.
Prison staff may also have been complicit in this. Several prison officers have been fired from Swalecliffe because of corruption.
Moreover even those staff who are straight might turn a blind eye to drug use in jail. Some of them may lack the confidence to investigate which involves challenging prisoners. Simply put, it just makes for an easier life to ignore drug smuggling.
Low pay for prison staff doesn’t help with effective prison management either.
Relevance to A-level sociology
This material is mainly relevant to the Crime and Deviance module.
This shows how difficult it is to adopt a Right Realist approach and be tough on crime.
Here we have an individual who has received a prison sentence yet there aren’t sufficient resources to prevent him carrying on a criminal lifestyle.
It also shows us how technology can enable criminals more than the agents of social control.
There is probably technology that can detect drones, or prevent them being flown near prisons, for example. However Swalecliffe Prison doesn’t have these.
Prison overcrowding may also have affected the sentencing of some of the gang. The person who flew the drones containing drugs into jail received 150 hours community service, for example.