600 DRUG SEIZURES IN PRISONS ONLY TIP OF ICEBERG

PRISON officials have made more than 600 drug seizures, including
heroin and cannabis, in Irish jails over the last two years.

Figures just released show there were at least 622 hauls between April
1998 and April 2000. However, informed sources believe this represents
just a fraction of the amount of drugs being smuggled into jails.

93I'm not surprised by that amount, I would have thought it would be a
lot more,94 said Dr Des Crowley, a medical officer in Mountjoy Jail.

93There are not many searches carried out and drugs which are found
would be incidental, say if a prisoner is moving cell or if a bag of
heroin falls out of a pocket.94

Files released under the Freedom of Information Act show that the vast
majority of seizures were in Dublin prisons.

There were 292 seizures in St Patrick's Institution for young male
offenders, which is in the Mountjoy Jail complex. Some 226 seizures
were of cannabis and 36 of heroin.

There were 166 seizures in Mountjoy Jail, 80% of which were cannabis.
Despite the scale of heroin use in the jail only small quantities of
the drug were seized.

There were 55 seizures in Wheatfield prison, Clondalkin, west Dublin,
and 27 in Shanganagh Castle, Shankill, Co. Dublin.

Outside Dublin, there were 31 seizures in Cork prison, five of them
heroin, and 25 seizures in Limerick prison, two of them heroin.

While there were no details on the quantities seized, these are
believed to be fairly small. The most recent report by the Mountjoy
Visiting Committee in 1998 said the infiltration of illegal drugs was a
serious problem.

Drugs are usually supplied in prison visits. 93The drugs can be hidden
in the mouths of the visitor and passed over by kissing,94 said Dr
Crowley. 93They can also be hidden in baby's nappies. They can be very
ingenious.94

Fine Gael justice spokesman Alan Shatter said there was an urgent need
to implement policies to keep drugs out and turn our prisons into drug
free zones.

He said it was a major scandal that people who were drug free going
into prison acquired a drug habit in jail.

A spokesman for the Prisons Service said it took all reasonable
measures to prevent drugs getting into prisons.

He said a number of measures had been introduced to curtail the
problem, including video surveillance, improved control of visiting and
searching facilities and increased vigilance by staff.