How do drugs get into prisons and what can be done to stop this?

karen's revenge

i used to work in a prison in north yorkshire, and have witnessed and also heard about several different ways of smuggling drugs into prison. here's a list for u :

1) some inmates get their girlfiends to hide the drugs in their babies clothing / blanket, and take it from there once in the visitors room.

2) the girlfriend puts the drugs into her mouth (drugs usually wrapped in cling film) and then when she kisses her boyfriend, she transfers the drugs from her mouth to his.

3) visitors have been known to hide drugs in their hair / shoes / waist band / sleeves, ready to sneak it over to the inmate in the visitors room.

4) every morning and evening a guard used to have to do a perimeter walk around the exercise yard as it's been known for people to throw drugs over the wall. sometimes hidden inside a tennis ball, or something like that.

5) the dimmer ones used to just try to mail the drugs into the inmates - unaware that all letters to prisoners are opened, searched, and read before being given to the inmates. i once opened a letter only to get covered in coke. flippin' white power everywhere !!! and as for hiding stuff behind the stamp on the letters, well, these days all stamps are removed from the letters before being given to the inmate, so that's not a viable option anymore.... anyway, it's was a rubbish place to hide drugs - i mean, just how many drugs can u possibly fit behind a postage stamp without it being really noticable ?!?

6) the rarest way, but not unheard of, is to bribe a prison guard to bring in the drugs. i've heard stories of that happening in the past, but it does seem to be a very rare occurance these days.

i've already mentioned how some of these methods were stopped, or at least minimised... as for people hiding drugs on or in their bodies, well, that's where visitor searches come into play. if u go to visit someone in prison, u face the possibility of anything from a pat-down search (like u get in airports) to a full strip & cavity (yuck) search. most prisons these days will ask all visitors to undergo a pat down search, bags & coats have to be left in lockers, and the larger prisons also have x-ray machines, that they use to check things like shoes.

so there u go. it certainly was an interesting job. really stressful though. i wouldn't do it again.

ALL-MAN Â©

Officers being bribed. Corruption. It'll never end :(.

Sparkles

Do you think it is possible that some of the guards are maybe responsible for it happening? Other guards turn a blind eye to what is happening because they need their job. I would rather them be in there doing it than out on the streets. It is going to happen regardless of what is done.

Hotcakes

It is a HUGE problem in jails, people going in to jail end up coming out with raging drug habits as they get offered all sorts in the prison.

I don't know exactly how the drugs get passed in there but I can guess at it! probably vistors smuggle them in some how and they get throw over the walls .

How to stop it? well more random cell searches penatles for those failing drug tests maybe will help?

Angel

people swallow the drug in a condom and let it pass when on the other side.
that's just one way.

I don't think you can stop it as long as there is a want people will do anything to get it.

Aki

They get smuggled in by visitors, who then smuggle them to the inmates, who then sell it.
To stop it, I think they should get sniffer dogs in, especially since the drugs are often carried in the underwear, it could be very painfull to the holder.

OohLala

they put it under the stamp ~

Kevy

Many ways. As long as an inmate has 24-7 do devote to creative ways to find a way to smuggle it in, it's gonna happen.

hubbawubbub

Drugs get into prison by the crooked correctional officers that work there. Everyone that wears a uniform is not straight. You better believe that. It's not the visitors because everything gets thoroughly checked, especially, at a maximum security prison. CO's are checking the visitors, but who's checking the CO's.

TheDude

take the prisons back from the gangs

Gaynor

Yes i would like to know that as well, i think its a case of its not what you know its who you know.............there all as bad as each other

honourableone

Prisoners can get really drug desperate in prison, its where the highest number of nutmeg users are.

(that was not a piss take, nutmeg is a really dodgy drug, and apparently can be very unpleasant, make you feel like you have flu, and sleep for 3 days)

Scouse

I was in a pub and talking to someone who has "contacts" He said that he could get anything into a prison. I'm not sure if he was drawing a line in respect of a Challenger Tank

If there is demand there will always be a way of satisfying it.
People can be coerced bribed and blackmailed

purplepadma

Some find their way in through corrupt officers. Others are smuggled in by newly sentenced prisoners or visitors (in orifices, under tongue, etc).

Mobile phones also find their way in when they shouldn't.

I don't really know what can be done about it. Some prisons have sniffer dogs but it doesn't seem to help. As long as there is a demand from within, someone will be tempted to meet that demand.

tinkerbell

Visitors pass them to the inmates through kissing and just quickly passing it over to them and there are crooked prison guards too.
I don't think it could be completely stopped.

bodicea77

They get in any number of ways. Some are smuggles in by prison guards, others by inmates, some by visitors. The problem is there are far more of the prisoners than the guards. Anytime prisoners really wanted to take over, they could. The same is true of law enforcement on the street. It depends heavily on the premise that most people abide by the law or only make really minor infractions. If the prisoners aren't kept relatively happy, and drugs do keep them more placid, things become more difficult for the guards. The guards are already in danger every day they come to work. I doubt seriously that it will ever end.

Ring of Uranus

hmmm. The notion of 'swallowing' the condom full of drugs is quite a sweet one but it's the wrong end!

They are 'cheeked' (stuck up their asses) prior to production (prison transfer) following a visit at a (allowed weekly for remanded prisoners) bail hearing where they are held in the court cells and fished out later when they go for a dump in the prison.

They are also brought in by visitors at the prison, although this is high risk and by prison guards, although this is expensive.

Many prisons (usually the open ones) also have it simply thrown over the fence to a pre arranged spot, usually at the collusion of the guards who will want a fee.

Prison couldn't function without drugs. The only thing that prevents prisoners taking over from the poorly trained and understaffed guards is the fact that they are 'self sedated'.

Drugs work for the prisoners and the guards so they are not just tolerated, they are actively but privately encouraged.

suzii j

People who visit are sometimes to blame. They don't realise the very reason people are doing time is that they have (until proven otherwise) committed a crime. when drugs are smuggled into prisons often there is an exchange by kissing, handing over, or placing them on the persons. If sniffer dogs were at the entrance of prisons prior to people visiting then perhaps it could be reduced although I don't think it will be stopped ....

joan k

I don't think it can be stopped. Drugs are used as currency in prisons, or so I am told. I heard that the Prison Service allow it to happen to keep the prisoners quiet and make the Officers lives easier.

stormydays

They are smuggled in by visitors and even staff. In open prisons they are chucked over the wall.

Their only way of dealing with it is already in place....although there is always room for improvement. They search all vistors and offer a severe prosecution if anyone is caught smuggling.

The only way i can think this could be improved is to search all staff also....im not saying that all screws are corrupt but there will always be a few.

The search on visitors could be more intimate...but who is going to allow this????? particularly with the Human Rights Act watching from all corners

Children/babies have been known to carry........( which is sick ) but most are not searched.....and again who would want to search a child? Particularly with the Childrens Act watching.

Perhaps the inmate being visited should be punished as well as the visitor who has been caught?

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