Call for prison chiefs to hasten use of sniffer dogs

PRISON officers will this week push for the full roll-out of sniffer dogs in jails to combat the “scourge” of drug usebehind bars.

Following arrests of three guards over the smuggling of mobile phones and drugs into jails last week, prison chiefs will be asked to “speedily” introduce thesecurity measure across 16 prison complexes.

The Prison Officers’Association (POA), including its president Gabriel Keaveney, are expected to meet directors from the Irish Prison Service (IPS) this Thursday. The POA will also press for strong vetting procedures and screening of new staff.

“We want the dogs in all prisons as speedily as possible,” said POA deputy general secretary Eugene Dennehy.

Three prison officers were released without charge on Thursday and Friday after tip-offs to gardaí. On Thursday, lockers and staff in Wheatfield, Mountjoy and Cloverhill prisons were searched in connection with the smuggling of mobile phones and steroids.

One of those arrested had already been suspended from work. A file is being prepared for the DPP on the matter. Two more prisonofficers, searched but not arrested, are believed to have been cleared, said an inside source. A separate source last night said further suspensions were likely.

Criminals at Mountjoy Prison have managed to smuggle in the phones and technology, in what is believed to be a bid by inmates to control illegal activities outside the jail walls.

The prison service could not confirm reports yesterday that 600 mobile phones were discovered during searches last year.