PENDLETON — A new local technology company is enhancing security at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution to prevent drone operators from dropping contraband into the Pendleton prison.

With the rise of drones smuggling in contraband in federal, state and local correctional facilities, counter-drone technology has taken into the sky to monitor unmanned aerial vehicles and prevent unlawful drone drops. These illegal deliveries, which range from cellphones, drugs, razors and tobacco products, are becoming significant security concerns nationwide, including at EOCI.

“Contraband is not welcomed inside any prison,” EOCI Superintendent David Pedro said, in a video about the facility boosting its security with the Zing Drone Solutions Z-Scan system.

Ian Annase, founder of Zing Drone Solutions, has developed the Z-Scan, a drone detection scanner and identification system designed to secure airspace around critical areas such as airports, government buildings, military installations, public events and correctional facilities.

Smuggling attempt prompts innovation

In 2024, Annase moved from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Pendleton to join six other startups in the first cohort of technological innovators at the Oregon Unmanned Aerial Space Accelerator, a program that helps technological entrepreneurs to turn their visions into market-ready solutions.

“All throughout high school, I was always interested in cutting edge technology,” Annase said. “I was always kind of an entrepreneur at heart and I was just always looking for some ideas.”

Annase said he co-founded several tech startups, primarily focused on building mobile apps due to his background in iOS app development. He later transitioned to developing drone delivery systems for Walmart and Amazon, specifically using a DJI drone.

Annase and his team spotted an opportunity when the Federal Aviation Administration required drones to have remote identification and digital license plates. Noticing the need for retrofitting legacy drones, the team decided to create and market the digital plates.

Zing Drone Solutions hired students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop the licenses and sold more than 1,500 units in 2024, Annase said. As the company shifted focus, it sold older delivery drones, including an DJI Inspire 2, to prioritize the new business.

A few weeks into the venture, the U.S. Air Force in New York contacted Annase and his team about one of their old drones.

Annase said they learned one of the drones they sold on Facebook Marketplace had been used to smuggle contraband into a prison and crashed. The Air Force contacted him because the drone was registered under his name.

Developing the counter measure

Rather than feel discouraged, this incident sparked Annase’s interest in the drone detection market, leading to the development of the Z-Scan system.

“A lot of prisons have told us that they see drones, especially at night, but have no way of tracking them or knowing what they’re doing,” Annase said. “They see them, they hear them, but they don’t know what they’re doing. They can see the drone, but they don’t have any way to track down the pilot or capture the flight path.”

Annase said the Z-Scan provides correctional facilities a clear picture of the drone’s flight path over the prison perimeter and pinpoints the pilot’s location. In response, the prison is able to send law enforcement to investigate the drone operators activities.

To prevent contraband from entering their facility, EOCI has installed the Z-Scan system, which uses antenna and radio frequency technology to alert security about an unmanned aircraft within a 2-mile radius.

Pedro said he initially thought there was an invisible fence that would prevent drones from entering the facility and did not realize that drones could bypass it relatively easily.

“Back 20 years ago, they were using sling shots to try to put stuff over the fence,” EOCI Assistant Superintendent Ty Stewart said in the video. “Now they’re using drones you can buy at Walmart.”

Pendleton as ‘central hub’

Annase said EOCI is one of 24 facilities using his system and he plans to continue growing his operation from Pendleton.

“We’re really trying to make our mark in Pendleton, where the monitoring facility is and where everything is happening,” Annase said. “It’s going to be our central hub for everything that happens moving forward with scanning and remote ID.”

The company has opened a remote operations facility at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport, where all data from the Z-Scans around the location streams over gigabit internet into their facility.

There, Zing Solution Drones can provide alerts and notifications whenever unmanned aerial aircrafts breach a geofence.

“A lot of prisons have told us that they see drones, especially at night, but have no way of tracking them or knowing what they’re doing.”

— Ian Annase, founder of Zing Drone Solutions, which developed technology to track drones