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PRISON GANGS
Urgent warning from officers as vulnerable inmates left at the mercy of locked-up-gangsters in overcrowded prisons
- Published: 21:54, 30 Apr 2023
- Updated: 21:54, 30 Apr 2023
VULNERABLE inmates are at the mercy of locked-up gangsters, The Prison Officers’ Association has warned.
There are currently 113 people banged up — either serving a sentence or awaiting trial — who are linked with organised criminal gangs.
And according to new figures provided by Justice Minister Simon Harris, another 70-80 lags are associates of mob-linked prisoners, but are not known to be officially aligned with organised gangs.
However, gangland prisoners have a huge reach in the system as wardens struggle to find space to segregate them from the normal jail population.
Some 70 per cent of Ireland’s overpacked 4,571 prisoners have an active drug addiction, which officers say is placing them at the mercy of the gang kingpins who are in charge of supply.
A source said: “If anyone goes to an Irish prison on a drug charge, even if it’s possession, they have an allegiance to a gang whether you know it or not.”
POA president Tony Power has warned a “pack ‘em, stack ‘em and rack ‘em” policy provides a “perfect atmosphere for the bully to thrive” in overcrowded Irish jails, with vulnerable prisoners being put at risk.
A source said: “You have gangs like the Kinahans in Mountjoy, with influence in prisons all over the country, and the Hutches in Wheatfield. And where they are, they run that prison.
“And because we can’t segregate them properly, when drugs come in, they’ll force prisoners, through debts or control, to pick up the drugs and distribute them.
“It’s no risk and all reward. Gangs have all the control and never get their hands dirty.
“And even if you suspect a gang member is running the drug trade, they’re usually squeaky clean and could even be working as a cleaner on the landing, so not much can be done.”
To smuggle drugs into jail, pipes are being stuffed then thrown over the walls into yards to slip through protective netting.
“Drones carrying tennis balls set alight to burn through the netting have also been used.
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