‘Onslaught’ of drugs getting into Wheatfield prison needs to be treated as an emergency, visiting committee warns

– 7h ago

The visiting committee of Wheatfield Prison in Dublin has said the problem of drugs and mobile phones being thrown over the perimeter wall to prisoners needs to be treated as an emergency.

The committee has called for “a radical plan” as the scale of the problem represented an hourly struggle for prison staff in trying to prevent drugs from getting into Wheatfield.

In its just published annual report for 2020, the committee said it felt very strongly that the issue should be tackled as an emergency as it was “a serious and ongoing difficulty” for Wheatfield and other prisons.

Despite the best efforts of the prison authorities and the use of scanners, sniffer dogs, X-ray and bag searches together with monitoring of the prison wall, drugs were still getting into the Clondalkin prison, the committee noted.

It observed there had been a very definite reduction in the amount of drugs getting into Wheatfield, which houses around 500 prisoners, during the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.

It noted that it had resulted in prisoners feeling less stressed than usual with some regarding it as an opportunity to live without drugs.

However, the committee said the quantity of drugs getting into Wheatfield had begun increasing again and it had become a daily and hourly struggle to keep prisoners safe “from the onslaught of drugs and mobile phones coming over the wall.”

It acknowledged that gardaí had arrested many individuals outside the wall and had prevented drugs from getting into the prison yard during the lockdown.

“The pressure on prisoners to be involved in supplying in the prison is horrible,” the committee said.

It added: “We believe while the prisoner is in the care of the State, the prisoner should be reasonably protected from drug gangs whose only driving force is to make money on the backs of prisoners and their families.”

The committee said the perimeter wall netting was an ongoing problem with existing equipment needing “urgent attention or replacement.”

It also expressed concern that current wasteland near the prison that is being considered for housing could result in future homeowners coming under pressure to facilitate drugs being brought into the prison.

“The wall in the opinion of the committee members needs urgent attention and a very intense engagement of all the bodies who own the land to work together to solve and protect the prison,” it added.

The Irish Prison Service said preventing contraband including drugs and mobile phones getting into prisons would always remain a high priority.

An IPS spokesperson said the suspension of visits during the pandemic had resulted in an increase in “throw overs” into the exercise yards of prisons.

The spokesperson said prison staff had been able to identify and intercept items thrown over in such incidents to prevent them reaching prisoners.

The IPS has also increased the use of random and intelligence-led searches of cells on a daily basis, while dog units were carrying out a greater number of searches on deliveries to prisons.

The spokesperson said there had also been an increase in drugs found in post, parcels and prisoner clothing, while technological advancements had allowed for increased detection of drugs that have been sprayed onto letters, newspapers and other items.

The IPS said it worked closely with gardai on sharing information and carrying out joint operations targeting those trying to smuggle contraband into prisons.