13 November
A plan to smuggle cannabis into New Plymouth Prison within the soles of a shoe has been squashed. The drugs were found by Roxy the drug dog and her handler during a routine search of property that had been posted or couriered into the Prison.
The drugs, tightly packaged in plastic wrap, were found under the inner sole of a pair of sneakers addressed to a prisoner. The find was handed over to Police and the person who posted the shoes has been prohibited from visiting the prison.
"This incident is yet another example of the public attempting to get drugs into our prisons. We know that there is immense pressure on the public to supply prisoners with drugs but we are aware of this and are very vigilant to stop it from happening. We have a number of initiatives in place to prevent drugs and other contraband entering the prison including visitor searches, vehicle checkpoints, and the use of drug detector dogs,” says Prison Manager Peter Madsen.
“In conjunction with our other forms of detection our drug dogs have proven very effective in finding contraband. They are trained to detect certain odours down to parts per trillion, the chance contraband coming in will be found means it just isn’t worth it, you will get caught and you will face the consequences."
People who are caught attempting to introduce illegal items are likely to be banned from future visits to the prison for up to twelve months and can face Police prosecution.
“We have 12 drug dog teams across the country and they play a major role in locating drugs on prison property and to stop it from coming in. Nationally, random prisoner positive drug tests are sitting at an all time low and our drug dog teams are one of the ways we are achieving this.”
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