PRISONERS GETTING 'AIR MAIL' DRUG DELIVERY?

Drug-sniffing dogs, ion scanners and motion detectors are apparently
not enough to staunch the flow of drugs into Canadian prisons. It
appears that some of the contraband is simply thrown over the prison fence.

"We find most of the contraband that's thrown into institutions,"
says Dennis Finlay, spokesman for the Correctional Service of Canada.
But there's really no way of knowing how much is actually delivered.

Last week, Matsqui Institution, a medium-security facility in
Abbotsford, reported finding a "substantial amount" of drugs in a
package tossed over the fence in the early hours of Jan. 25.

Correctional officers at the time saw two "suspicious" characters
fleeing from the prison property, and later found a package lying
between the two perimeter security fences containing 60 grams of
marijuana and 40 grams of Ecstasy.

On the upside, the sender lost a "very substantial amount of drugs,"
says Randie Scott, Matsqui's acting assistant warden. On the
downside, it's not known how successful these over-the-fence
deliveries have been in the past.

Scott says prison staff do a sweep of the prison yard, before inmates
are allowed to enter, to intercept drug deliveries, and armed,
motorized patrols are constantly circling the well-lit prison perimeter.

But he admits it's still "possible" that some drugs and other
contraband are getting into the prison via the air route. In the
past, he says, drugs have been found stuffed inside a tennis ball
tossed over the fence, and a cellphone was found wrapped in a bag to
cushion its fall. He says regional and national correctional
authorities are looking into "new and emerging technologies" to stop
the practice.

In September, 2004, Kent prison officials reported 124 grams of
marijuana were found in a package tossed over the fence of the
maximum-security facility in Agassiz. Correctional officers acting on
a tip also intercepted that delivery.

Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon MP Chuck Strahl warned at that time that
weapons, not drugs, could be the next item tossed over a prison fence.

"If they can get away with that, the next time it won't be drugs," he said.