Two men have been detained on suspicion of trying to smuggle drugs and pornography into a prison in Maryland using a drone, prison officials say.

They said the suspects were spotted outside a state prison in Cumberland on Saturday, with a drone, handgun and contraband found inside their vehicle.

A separate search on an inmate of the jail turned up contraband, they added.

While it is the first case of its kind in Maryland, there have been similar attempts in Ohio and South Carolina.

Synthetic marijuana and pornographic DVDs were among the items the suspects intended to fly into the maximum-security prison using a Yuneec Typhone drone, officials said.

"You couldn't make this stuff up," Maryland's Secretary of Public Safety Stephen Moyer told reporters.

Both men are being held; one on a $250,000 (£159,000) bail, the other without bail. The inmate who was found with smuggled items in his cell has also been charged.

Police said they had been under surveillance for some time.

Drones - also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) - have been used before to smuggle drugs, cigarettes and mobile phones into prisons in the US.

Earlier this month, a brawl erupted at a prison in Ohio after a drone dropped a package containing small amounts of tobacco, marijuana and heroin into the prison yard.

Nine prisoners who were involved in the fight were placed in solitary confinement.