Drugs seized from 24 visitors in Mountjoy sting

UNDERCOVER detectives seized drugs from more than 20 visitors to Mountjoy as part of an operation to cut drug supplies to the prison.

The two-day operation involved drug squad detectives mingling with visitors outside the north Dublin complex and searching those they suspected were smuggling drugs.

Garda HQ said the operation resulted in 24 seizures of controlled drugs. Prosecutions for possession of the drugs, mostly heroin, will be taken while those caught may also face more serious supply charges.

Prison insiders said the seizures resulted in 15 inmates not receiving their drug supplies.

“They weren’t very happy. There were a lot pretty sober this weekend and some of them are never sober at the weekend,” said one source.

Undercover gardaí were also deployed around the perimeter of the prison to catch anyone attempting to throw drugs over the wall and into the prison yard.

The operation, organised by the Dublin north central drugs squad, took place on Friday and Saturday.

It was described as being part of “ongoing operations to thwart the supply of controlled drugs to persons within the Mountjoy Prison complex”.

However, the prisoners are blaming a recently jailed inmate for the crackdown. The inmate, as he was being sentenced in court last week, is reported to have told the judge that he didn’t mind because he would get plenty of drugs inside Mountjoy.

It is claimed this led directly to the operation a couple of days later.

“We don’t know how true that is but that’s what the prisoners believe,” said one source. The inmate is being held in isolation inside the prison after being moved from the general population on Friday.

“That may be more to do with the fact he’s a troublemaker and a lot of people don’t like him,” said the insider.

Drug-taking is rife in Mountjoy. Various ways are used to smuggle narcotics in, including in baby’s nappies and in the mouths of visitors. While prison officers are entitled to carry out personal searches, this is not done in the majority of cases.

The Government is split over the issue of drugs in prison. Justice Minister Michael McDowell, with his zero tolerance approach, advocates drug-free prisons while his colleague Noel Ahern, who is responsible for strategies to deal with drugs, wants to introduce needle exchanges to curb “startling” numbers of inmates contracting hepatitis C.