BOOTY BEHIND BARS

Inmates Bag Weapons, Drugs, Booze, Even Classified Government Material

FEDERAL PRISONS are brimming with a cornucopia of lethal weapons,
hard-core drugs and homemade booze, and Corrections Canada brass are
vowing to step up efforts to curb the contraband.

Documents obtained by Sun Media through Access to Information reveal
that inmates have got their hands on everything from crack cocaine
and heroin to explosives, hacksaws, pornography and classified
government material.

In reference to explosives and handcuff keys, a notice from the
Correctional Service of Canada accompanying the list explains that
the "vast majority of those items were found in common areas and were
of no concern."

It notes none of the contraband items were found in possession of
"high profile" prisoners.

Sylvain Martel, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional
Officers, says the rise in drugs and weapons is creating more tension
and danger in penitentiaries.

While there has been a "dramatic" increase of dangerous weapons
because of escalating gang activity behind bars, officers are bound
by limits on search and seizure, and offenders often aren't charged
for drug possession, he says.

"That is a nightmare for us," Martel says. "It seems like we need a
search warrant to search a cell."

CSC spokeswoman Michele Pilon-Santilli says much contraband is seized
at the door, but it's hard to detect because thousands of visitors,
volunteers and contractors pass through each day. Inmates also devise
innovative ways to get drugs, from hiding them in body cavities to
stuffing them inside tennis balls or dead birds tossed over the fence.

Pilon-Santilli says CSC is exploring improved technology to detect
contraband and is encouraging inmates to take part in education, drug
rehabilitation and harm-reduction programs.

Tory MP Myron Thompson says "hoodlums" have been running the show in
jails for far too long. He wants an immediate crackdown on drugs and weapons.

"It makes the situation very dangerous for the guards and the other
inmates," Thompson says. "I know at some of the institutions I've
visited I've found inmates in solitary confinement on request. Not
for doing anything wrong, but for their own protection."