JAIL STITCH UP
GUARDS SEIZE DRUGS IN INMATES’ CLOTHES
PRISONERS are trying to smuggle drugs into jails by sewing them inside clothes they’re allowed to wear for court appearances after faceto-face visits were suspended due to COVID.
NSW correctional officers have recently found contraband drugs hidden inside everything from suit linings to shoe soles sent to inmates for them to wear to court.
There have been at least 12 incidents in the past six months after face-to-face jail visits were suspended.
Officers at the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre near Kempsey recently seized a cache of buprenorphine — an opioid — hidden inside sneakers that were sent to an inmate.
Almost 300 strips of the prescription drug, commonly known as bupe, with a potential jail value of about $300,000, were recovered.
The jail’s governor, Majid Marashian, said officers grew suspicious when they noticed the soles of the shoes were glued on.
“(They) placed the sneakers in an X-ray machine,
which confirmed their suspicions that contraband was stuffed between the sole and upper part of the shoes,” Mr Marashian said.
“The team did an outstanding job to identify that there was something off with these shoes before they ended up in the wrong hands.”
Meanwhile, 35 bupe strips were found in the seams of the crotch section of a pair of trousers in Long Bay jail in June, and 150 strips were found hidden in a suit’s shoulder pads at the John Morony Correctional Centre in Berkshire Park last month.
At Parklea Correctional Centre, 28g of tobacco and 140 bupe strips were found in the lining of a suit jacket in September.
Used as a heroin replacement, bupe is estimated to be worth between $400 and up to $1000 a strip in a maximum-security centre.
In NSW, all inmates are given prison greens to wear, but their families, lawyers and associates are allowed to send appropriate private clothing to a correctional centre for approved purposes — including court appearances.
A Corrective Services
NSW spokeswoman said all court clothes were carefully searched by staff before being stored in clothing bags in prison reception rooms. The bags are secured with a security seal.
“The clothes can only be accessed when the inmate faces court,” she said.
“If a seal is broken when staff are accessing the court clothes, officers will conduct a thorough search of the clothes again before giving them to an inmate.”
Corrections Minister Anthony Roberts commended staff for their vigilance.