Even as authorities are trying to curb the smuggling of contraband into the various prisons across the country, another attempt was made to ferry in illicit items into the New Amsterdam Prison on Wednesday morning.
Some of the illicit items thrown into the NA Prison compound
According to Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels, the incident occurred about 04:16h. He revealed that a bag containing a quantity of illicit items was thrown over the prison’s fence into the compound. However, attentive ranks stationed inside were able to retrieve the items.
Among the items found were: three parcels of suspected marijuana, 32 packs of cigarettes, two bottles containing white and brown rum, bamboo wraps, and a lighter.
Samuels noted that the Police were called in and an investigation has since been launched.
The smuggling of contraband items into prisons remains a perennial problem within the system. Nevertheless, authorities have been working to curb the practice and these efforts have resulted in several prison officers being caught facilitating the illegal trade, which is said to be “big business”.
In fact, Director Samuels disclosed during a press conference earlier this month that five prison officers have been relieved of their duties after they had been implicated in the May 1, 2018 incident in which a parcel containing cannabis had been thrown into the Lusignan Prison Holding Bay area.
“…We also have five officers who have been interdicted from duty following the May 1 matter at the Holding Bay, where our CCTV footage would have revealed that a number of what is suspected to be contraband items were thrown into the Holding Bay facility… Based on the reviews we would have conducted, it is clear that the officers were working in collusion with each other in order to facilitate the movement of the suspected contraband into the prison,” he explained.
Samuels further disclosed that legal advice has been sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions on the way forward, and he has decried the behaviour of such ranks.
“It is quite disturbing, it is quite embarrassing, to have to face these situations on a daily basis; but this is not a situation whereby the prison administration is failing to act. The reality of it is, despite we would do vetting and so forth, these prison officers are drawn from communities…and for some strange reason, despite they’re given their dos and don’ts, they allow themselves to be sucked into the financial gains that these activities can bring you,” he said.
