Ganja, phones unearthed at NA Prison

A search conducted at the New Amsterdam Prison on Saturday morning unearthed a number of contraband and other prohibited items.
According to information received, the raid was conducted by ranks of the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) and Guyana Police Force (GPF), and five grams of marijuana, five cellular phones, and a number of improvised weapons, lighters and phone chargers were discovered.
Less than one month ago, it was reported that officers had unearthed some 146 Ziploc bags containing marijuana and more than forty prohibited items from the Prison during an impromptu search of the penal facility.
Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels, had informed that 146 Ziploc bags of narcotics, amounting to 292 grams; six cell phones, 12 phone chargers, five packets of cigarettes, eight improvised weapons, three SIM cards and seven lighters were discovered.
Meanwhile on Friday, a raid conducted at the Lusignan Prison uncovered another set of illegal items, which included syringes with needles, six bottles of pepper sauce, six earphones, a number of razor blades, 17 chargers, 24 lighters, five cellular phones, 10 improvised weapons, eight metal spoons, two pairs of scissors, one plastic knife, two nail clippers, four bottles of oil with suspected cannabis seeds, three mirrors, one wrist watch, one pack of cards, one memory card, and a quantity of wire and Ziploc bags.
Additionally, just one month before, a similar routine search had removed a number of knives, scissors and blades from the penitentiary.
The Director of Prisons had at the time also indicated that five officers had been relieved of their duties after they were reportedly involved in an incident in which a package containing cannabis had been tossed into the Lusignan Prison Holding Bay area.
Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan was greatly displeased with the numerous attempts being made to smuggle illegal items into the Prisons. He is of the belief that it is due to a possible collusion between officers and the prisoners.