GUARD'S COFFEE SPIKE: UNION

A Kamloops prison guard got more than cream or sugar in his coffee
when the spiked beverage landed him in Royal Inland Hospital.

A spokesman for the B.C. Government Employees' Union claims an inmate
laced the rookie guard's coffee with heroin last week.

But Kamloops RCMP and the B.C. Corrections Branch said Thursday an
ongoing investigation has yet to determine what was put in the coffee
and how it got there.

"There's a lot of pieces that have to come together," said RCMP Cpl.
Scott Wilson.

BCGEU spokesman Dean Purdy said the guard was working in a living
unit at Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre on June 4 when one or
two inmates distracted him. Another inmate dropped the heroin into
the cup while his back was turned, he said.

"He started to feel dizzy and light-headed," said Purdy. "He was
rushed to hospital and I believe he spent the night."

But Wilson said police have not analysed the coffee cup and don't
know what was put in the drink.

"I don't know why they've disclosed it as heroin. I don't know where
that came from. We just know there was some kind of substance," said Wilson.

Purdy said he has reliable sources who confirmed it was heroin, but
would not say who they are.

Wilson said it's also too early to say if the substance was deposited
in the coffee by an inmate.

Investigators are conducting interviews with guards and inmates and
reviewing surveillance footage hoping to learn what really happened, he said.

Purdy blames the incident on overcrowding. He said the living units
at KRCC were built for no more than 20 inmates, but as many as 38
live in a single unit.

He said the guard-to-inmate ratio is also to blame. The ratio used to
be 20 to one. There are currently 40 inmates for every guard.

"KRCC was built for a capacity of 168 prisoners but has been as high
as 330 in the last two months," said Purdy.

Corrections spokesman Derek Tangedal acknowledged staff-to-inmate
ratios in B.C. jails are at an all-time high, but said he doesn't
believe overcrowding led to the spiked drink.

"One or two inmates could do the same thing," he said.

"It's also been reported that we responded to the incident by banning
coffee. This is not the case," he said.

He said Corrections has reminded staff to store food and drinks in a
secure area and to always be aware of where the item is when they're
consuming it.

Purdy said drugs are smuggled into prisons by new inmates who put the
narcotic in a balloon and swallow it. Sometimes the substances are
put in hollowed out tennis balls and tossed over the fence.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to phone Kamloops
RCMP at 828-3000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

A news release was not issued on the incident when it occurred.