Sister's drug smuggling attempt thwarted

Tuesday 20 July

Prisoner phone monitoring and prompt staff action prevented an attempt by a prisoner’s sister to smuggle cannabis into Christchurch Men’s Prison over the weekend.

Phone monitoring revealed that a prisoner had organised for his sister to bring cannabis with her into Christchurch Men's Prison when she visited him on the 18th of July.

“Staff were aware this family member had concealed drugs with the intent to pass it on to her brother. As a result she was stopped at the gatehouse, Police were notified and she was subsequently arrested,” says Christchurch Men’s Prison Manager John Roper. 

The call was monitored as part of the Department’s regular monitoring operations.

“Whilst telephone monitoring is only one of the tools used to prevent illegal activity, it is extremely effective at combating criminal activity within, or organised from, our prisons. In June alone phone monitoring led to 27 arrests, charges, misconduct reports, visitor prohibitions and reasonable drug tests in Southern Region prisons.

“The use of phone monitoring and interaction between Operational Intelligence and the wider Corrections staff have dramatically increased the likelihood of prisoners, their families and associates getting caught if they are involved in illegal activity,” says Mr Roper.

“Prisoner payphones are provided and prisoners are encouraged to maintain links with family and support networks, but it is a real shame when some prisoners use this communication to encourage family members to introduce drugs.

“If prisoners use their calls to organise illegal activity they may also face sanctions on the phone numbers they can call and on the amount and duration of the calls they are allowed to make. Conspiring to introduce drugs is also likely to affect their chances of parole.” 
ENDS
For further information contact the Communications Services Desk:
Phone: (04) 460 3365 or email: commdesk@corrections.govt.nz