CANBERRA: Two men have been charged with trying to smuggle drugs and tobacco into a NSW jail.
Prison Officers and sniffer dogs carried out the blitz at Wellington Correctional Centre in the state’s central west on Sunday and busted two male visitors with contraband.
A 41-year-old man was found with eight balloons containing more than 13 grams of tobacco, cigarette papers, and five tablets, while a 34-year-old was found with seven balloons containing 28 tablets of prescription drugs, Corrective Services NSW said in a statement on Monday.
Both men have been charged.
Police were called and the pair’s vehicle was searched where more than 100 tablets including oxycontin, endone and valium; 13 grams of cannabis; a mobile phone and sim card; and alcohol were seized.
“Visitors caught bringing contraband into prisons face penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment. Another penalty is a ban on visits of up to two years,” Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin said in a statement on Monday.
The department says it takes a zero-tolerance to contraband, and full body scanners will be introduced into all maximum and medium security prisons across the state by the end of the year to deal with the issue.
NSW prisons have come under scrutiny with several recent cases of inmates allegedly getting their hands on mobile phones and accessing social media.
Prisoner, Wesam Hamze, who is linked to Brothers 4 Life, allegedly posted pictures to his Instagram site from Sydney’s Parklea prison, and used a mobile phone to post comments about guards allegedly sneaking in drugs and tobacco.
The inmate’s phone was seized last week and he has since been transferred to Goulburn’s Supermax.
Last month it was found minimum-security inmate Beau Wiles, who escaped from Goulburn jail, appears to have been active on Facebook while serving his 18-month sentence for shoplifting and driving offences.
Just two days before he fled, a post appeared on his page of him posing in his underpants.
