Hundreds of hacked mobile phones are seized from inmates
PrISon bosses have confiscated thousands of illegal SIm cards used by inmates to run their criminal empires from behind bars, the mail can reveal.
The smuggled cards bypass prison mobile phone security and allow convicts to conduct drug deals and other illegal activities on the outside.
many inmates have also used the cards to hack free mobile phones given to them by the Scottish Government.
more than 10,300 free handsets were handed to inmates to help them stay in touch with family while visiting was restricted during the pandemic.
But it has been claimed the mobiles, hailed as ‘tamper proof’ by the Government, were often hacked within hours.
The mail has uncovered evidence that hundreds of mobiles and thousands of SIm cards have been seized in the past 15 months.
Tory mSP russell Findlay called the Government’s £3million scheme an ‘unmitigated shambles’. He added: ‘It is shocking that so many of these phones have been compromised and are now being used to run lucrative prison drugs markets.’
There are around 7,500 phones in use at any one time. Since they were introduced, prison staff have seized 3,973 illicit SIm cards and 653 devices. A prison source said the removal of in-person visits disrupted the way in which some inmates conduct criminal activity from behind bars, adding: ‘That could create a premium on smuggled SIm cards and phones.’
‘They’re very, very ingenious’
The latest figures, provided in response to a freedom of information request, do not show how many of the handsets seized were issued by the SPS.
But since August, 728 mobiles issued through the Government scheme had been found with illegal SIm cards.
Sniffer dogs trained to detect electronic devices through their chemical scent are being used to track down illicit SIms.
John mcTavish, a prison officer at Glasgow’s HmP Barlinnie, previously said: ‘You give a prisoner a phone, and they’re very, very ingenious. If they put their mind to something, they can do anything. Within hours, the tamperproof was gone.’
mr mcTavish also said that about a third of the phones he checked at Barlinnie had been tampered with. When asked about the issue, nicola Sturgeon previously said she was not aware of the phones being tampered with and said her Government would look into it.
A spokesman for the SPS said: ‘The introduction of the SPSissued phones has been of significant benefit to those in our care and their families during what has been a very difficult time.
‘In addition, we are very robust in the detection of contraband and this is reflected in the number of confiscations made.’
Justice Secretary Keith Brown previously said a solution has been found that would render the handsets unusable with a non-prison issued SIm.