SAO PAULO - IN A new spin on the term 'roaming charge,' Brazilian police busted a gang trying to deliver mobile phones to a top-security prison using a remote-controlled toy helicopter, media reported on Monday.

Four suspects were arrested late Sunday outside a maximum security facility in the southern town of Presidente Venceslau in Brazil's Sao Paulo state after the mini-chopper, 14 mobile telephones and the equivalent of US$500 (S$750) in cash were found in their rented car.

They had been stopped for a routine inspection because of their proximity to the prison, which holds organised crime bosses and other dangerous inmates.

The youngest of the suspects, a 17-year-old boy, reportedly confessed to police that they had received US$5,000 to pay for the operation and would receive another US$5,000 if successful. He refused to say who was to receive the telephones.

Brazil's criminals often continue illicit activities while serving time, relying on mobile phones that are smuggled inside though a variety of ingenuous ways.

In the past, carrier pigeons and doctored Bibles have been used. -- AFP