Spanish police foiled a plot to use a zeppelin to help a prisoner break out of jail, the interior ministry says.
Investigators found a package sent from Italy containing sophisticated escape equipment that was to have been smuggled into the hilltop Salto del Negro prison on the Canary Island of Las Palmas using a four-metre electrically controlled dirigible.
The breakout had been planned for Tuesday, a day before the detainee, whose name was given as Giulio B, was due to appear in court on charges of drug trafficking.
Three helpers had set up a camouflaged observation tent on a promontory 600 metres from the prison, and spent a month monitoring jail workers' movements with high-power, wide-angle binoculars. They also were protected with electronic movement sensors to warn of people approaching.
The helpers were also in possession of maps of the prison and handwritten letters sent by Giulio B.
"The strategy consisted of using a 4-meter radio-controlled zeppelin to help introduce night vision equipment, climbing kit and camouflage paint to Giulio B's cell," the ministry said in a statement.
Police say Giulio B would have used the equipment to reach a point on the jail perimeter that was not under constant observation. From there, police said, they believe he would have descended to a waiting escape vehicle, the ministry said.
The 51-year-old man was in jail awaiting trial after having been caught flying a seaplane loaded with 200kg of cocaine from Mauritania, it said.
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