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Turning the screws on the prison system

Ali Bracken, Crime Correspondent

The introduction into prisons of new screening procedures and dog-handling teams has lead to a haul of contraband items such as weapons, drugs and moblie phones, such as those pictured in Mountjoy Prison recently

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More THAN half-a-million people have been screened while visiting Irish prisons in the first three months of the year, and one of the most unusual discoveries has been heroin discovered in a Kinder egg centre concealed in a bra.

Airport-style walk-through detectors are now installed in all closed prisons, excluding Arbour Hill and the training unit, and all visitors and staff are required to pass through the detectors before being granted access inside.

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) began rolling out a range of new security screening measures last year to help stem the flow of drugs, weapons and mobile phones coming into prisons.

Dedicated search teams carrying out spot checks in cells and a national canine unit are also now in place throughout the country's prisons. Some of the less predictable items visitors have attempted to smuggle in are porn DVDs and Viagra.

Methods of getting contraband into jails have also developed – prison guards at the Midlands prison caught a woman trying to smuggle drugs concealed in a child's wheelchair. Prison officers have also reported witnessing mothers French-kissing their sons in a bid to pass drugs.

"One of the major challenges in prisons worldwide lies in preventing access to contraband items, primarily mobile phones and drugs, which for obvious reasons are viewed as highly valuable commodities which could assist in illegal activity," said a prison service spokesman. The Operational Support Unit is responsible for carrying out cell searches but is also involved in gathering intelligence information in each prison.

As well as walk-through detectors, x-ray scanners are also in place to screen all handbags, briefcases, packages and coats. Some 31 dog-handling teams make up the new drug detection dog unit. "The first 16 such teams have completed their training with the Northern Ireland Prison Service and are in operation in our prisons, and by the middle of this year full strength will be achieved," added the spokesman.

As it has become more difficult to smuggle in mobile phones into prisons, passing sim cards to inmates is a new popular alternative. The blanket blocking of mobile phones is being phased in at Portlaoise prison after being successfully implemented in the Midlands prison.

Trials of alternative systems of mobile-phone blocking technology are underway in Limerick, Cloverhill and Mountjoy prison medical unit.