Wheatfield Prison tops list for drugs, weapons, and phones seizures

The number of drug seizures in prisons increased last year, but the number of weapons and phones detected by authorities looked set to fall, figures show.

The Irish Prison Service has revealed that up to December 14 last, there had been 1,224 drug seizures across the prison network in 2019 — a third consecutive annual increase and more than 200 more seizures than in 2017.

The largest number of drug seizures took place in Wheatfield Prison, with 479 — 76 more than in 2018 and more than double the 2017 figure of 183.

There were 229 seizures in Mountjoy and 183 in Cloverhill, but while the rate of drug seizures has stabilised in the last two years in Mountjoy, the number of seizures in Cloverhill rose for the third successive year.

That was also the case in Cork Prison: In 2017 there were 21 drug seizures, climbing to 55 in 2018 and 61 last year, with two weeks of 2019 still to be accounted for.

As for phone seizures, the overall figure of 945 was slightly down on the annual figure for 2018.

The highest number of phones seized was again in Wheatfield, where 298 devices were found. That marked a third consecutive annual increase, whereas in Mountjoy, the 228 phones detected marked a third successive fall in the number of devices found there.

As for weapons, 533 seizures were made up to December 14, down from 664 found in all of 2018.

Both Wheatfield and the Midlands Prisons had the highest number of seizures, with 127.

Mountjoy Prison saw a huge fall in the number of weapons seized, from 172 in 2018 to 62 last year with two weeks of 2019 remaining.

According to a spokesman for the Irish Prison Service, “concerted efforts are made on a continuous basis to prevent the flow of contraband into our prisons, by, for example, the installation of nets over exercise yards, vigilant observation of prisoners by staff, enhanced CCTV monitoring, the stricter control of visits and the use of targeted and random cell searches on a daily basis”.

The spokesman continued: “As well as this the introduction of passive and active drug detection dogs and the installation of airport-style security including scanners and X-ray machines has helped efforts to tackle the problem. Random searches of cells and their occupants have uncovered significant quantities of contraband in recent years.”

As recently reported by the Irish Examiner, Wheatfield Prison is currently trialling new anti-drone technology.