Prison authorities anti-smuggling efforts fail to prevent flow of drugs in prisons

Prison authorities are struggling to combat the problem of smuggling in Irish jails, with new figures revealing that more than 3,200 drug seizures have taken place in prisons over the past three years.

A range of measures to combat smuggling have been introduced in recent years, but the number of inmate searches recovering quantities of illegal drugs remains persistently high. An average of three seizures each day have taken place in the prison network since 2012.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that a total of 3,236 drugs seizures have taken place in the State’s 14 prisons during the past three years.