Thousands of contraband items seized in prisons in 2015

More than 600 phones, 500 weapons and 800 quantities of drugs were seized in Irish prisons last year, figures from the Irish Prison Service show.

The figures also indicate 589 litres of home-made alcohol were seized across the State’s prisons, while a further 1,714 miscellaneous items of contraband were also confiscated.

Although thousands of seizures took place, the prison service said the amount of contraband detected had halved since a dedicated anti-contraband team was introduced in 2008.

The 2015 figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show the highest number of phones were seized at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin where 265 were confiscated, with the next highest number (70) seized in the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise. The greatest number of drugs seizures, 148, took place at Wheatfield Prison, while 136 drugs seizures were made at Mountjoy. Wheatfield also saw the highest number of weapons seizures, 125, while 120 weapons were seized at Castlerea.

Improvised weapons

These would typically have been improvised weapons, such as sharpened pieces of plastic or razor blades set into toothbrushes, the prison service said.

The highest quantity of alcohol seized was at Portlaoise, where authorities recovered 203 litres, considerably more than the 132 litres seized at Cork, which was the next highest quantity. The alcohol is brewed inside prison, using sugar, fruit and mouldy bread.

The prison service said it constantly updated its tactics as individuals devise new methods of getting contraband into prisons. “It’s an ongoing battle,” a spokesman said.

He said most of the problems in prisons stem from drug use. “Everything is fuelled by drugs,” he said. The violence and weapons were linked to drugs feuds, while the mobile phones were also associated with dealing.

However, he added there had been year-on-year decreases in the amount of contraband seized since 2009 when new screening and search procedures were introduced.

In 2011 authorities seized almost 1,300 phones, close to 1,300 weapons and 1,417 quantities of drugs. The number of inmates arrested in prison in relation to contraband has also dropped, from 282 in 2011 to 120 last year.