2 April
The Department of Corrections received confirmation from Police today that a would be methamphetamine smuggler stopped by staff at Auckland Central Remand Prison had $12,000 worth of drugs in his underpants.
The prisoner who was remanded in custody refused to be searched by ACRP staff prior to being received into the prison, a move that rings alarm bells with prison staff.
“All prisoners are searched on their arrival to prison,” says Assistant Regional Manager Northern Grace Smit.
“When a prisoner refuses to be searched, nine times out of ten it indicates that they have contraband material of some kind somewhere on their body.
“In this instance, the prisoner was attempting to conceal a small package in his underwear. Staff moved to recover the package, and the prisoner attempted to defeat their efforts by dropping it to the floor and standing on it.
“ACRP staff, with the assistantce of transporting staff from First Security, restrained the prisoner and the package was recovered easily
“Police have since informed us that the package contained 11.7 grams of methamphetamine – considering a single hit is 0.1 grams, this is a big find for our staff. Searching is business as usual for custodial staff, but it's always nice to get a result and know that you’re making a difference.
“As a Department we are constantly working to prevent drugs and other contraband entering prisons. We regularly and randomly search visitors, vehicles, staff, and prisoners being received into the prison as in this case.
"We have drug dog teams around the country who are dedicated to searching for all types of contraband,and we regularly work with police to achieve good results like this one.”
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