Fight against drugs in jails goes ‘24/7,’ official says

A drug overdose is believed to be responsible for the death this week of an inmate at Saskatoon Correctional Centre — the latest illustration of what a provincial justice official calls a “24/7 battle” in Saskatchewan.

Staff at correctional facilities across the province are on constant lookout for drugs and contraband, Ministry of Justice spokesman Drew Wilby said Thursday at a news conference.

Inmates are willing to attempt all sorts of brazen ways to import such goods, including “suitcasing” (a slang term that refers to the act of inserting contraband, often stored in a Kinder Surprise egg, into a body cavity) and throw-overs (which involve someone tossing contraband over the security fence, at which time an inmate retrieves it).

The Saskatoon jail, where the inmate died on Wednesday, has been the latest trouble spot.

“We have had some challenges in Saskatoon this week due to drugs,” Wilby said, noting there have been three overdoses at the facility in the last week.

“We have reason to believe that’s likely what caused this death.”

Wilby said the inmate, who was on remand, was found unresponsive in his bunk on Wednesday afternoon. Jail staff administered naloxone and alerted 911, but the man was pronounced dead around 1:30 p.m.

According to policy, the unit would have been placed on lockdown and the inmates moved to another area of the jail while the investigation took place. While cause of death won’t officially be known until an autopsy is performed, Wilby said there was “evidence to believe there were drugs on that unit.”

In recent weeks, two men were found to be hiding drugs in their anal cavities with the intention of smuggling them into the Regina Correctional Centre. Both men were taken to hospital to have the drugs removed. The Saskatoon Correctional Centre had a similar incident in September, when someone threw a package of drugs over the fence and into the yard.

In 2015, a 17-year-old inmate at the Kilburn Hall youth detention centre in Saskatoon died from an accidental overdose. An inquest later found the teen had smuggled the drugs into the facility in his anal cavity when he was arrested three days before his death.

Shauna Wolf, an inmate who died from an opioid withdrawal at Pine Grove Correctional Centre in 2015, had admitted to bringing drugs into the facility in her body cavity.

The death in Saskatoon reiterates the “extreme negative effects” of bringing drugs and other contraband into correctional facilities, Wilby said. “We’re always trying to stay one or two steps ahead.”

Corrections staff use intelligence officers at jails, a security intelligence unit across the province, and upgraded patrols to help keep drugs out.

We have been more open about it because we do see it as a public safety risk.

Regina’s jail is expected to get a body scanner, potentially by early next year, as part of a pilot program that could expand to the province’s other facilities.

Inmates in Saskatchewan are not subjected to body cavity searches. According to Wilby, research done at the federal level found performing cavity searches on individuals who have been victims of sexual abuse can cause challenges.

“It is a challenge for us, as it is anywhere else, dealing with contraband,” Wilby said. “We have been more open about it because we do see it as a public safety risk.” — With Regina Leader-post files from Mark Melnychuk