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Gangs threw drugs worth €1 million over Wheatfield Prison walls last year

Criminals stuff copper pipes with drugs which are then thrown over the wall or launched with a catapult

Sat 23 Sep 2023 at 14:59

Organised crime gangs have thrown almost a million euros worth of drugs over the walls of Wheatfield Prison so far this year.

Drugs such as cannabis, heroin and cocaine are worth four times as much behind bars than on the street making the west Dublin lock-up is prime target for drug dealers.

More than three kilos of cannabis have been seized there so far this year, along with significant quantities of heroin and cocaine and several thousand tablets, according to sources.

The combined value of the drugs on the prison landings would make it worth close to €500,000 to the gangs, it was added.

It is estimated that the same amount of drugs managed to reach prisoners before it could be seized by staff.

Criminal associates stuff copper pipes with drugs which are thrown over the wall or launched with a catapult onto the netting over the exercise yards.

Inmates then use shoes or footballs to hit the pipes until they fall through the netting and can be quickly secreted before staff can intervene, said sources.

The drugs change hands for four times the price as they are worth on the outside with use of offshore online betting accounts to pay for the contraband.

A spokesperson for the Irish prison Service said “preventing the access of contraband into prisons continues to be a high priority”.

“70% of people committed to custody have addiction issues. Those with active addiction continue their drug seeking behaviours inside prison notwithstanding the supports that are available to address their addiction.”

“Drug free prisons will only be achievable when we have a drug free society.”

Relatives of inmates have also been targeted by drug gangs to pay for debts run up in prison or smuggle contraband while on a visit.

In one recent court case a man told how he was threatened with a knife in his own home to carry drugs into a prison on a visit.

In January 2018 a nephew of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, Derek Hutch, was murdered close the prison walls as he took part in a drugs drop to relatives inside.

He is believed he had driven there with two associates to throw a parcel of drugs over the prison wall. While Derek stayed with the car, his associates made their way to the rear of the St Oliver’s Park which backs on to the prison.

They had made contact with his brother Nathan Hutch by phone to inform him the drop was taking place.

While the drugs were being thrown over the wall Derek Hutch was shot dead by a suspected Kinahan Cartel hitman.

Because of its location in west Dublin, close to a number of housing estates and open green areas it is possible to walk up close to the perimeter walls of Wheatfield Prison

Last year, according to statistics from the Irish Prison Service, Wheatfield had 510 drug seizures, more than double both the total at Mountjoy and the Midlands which are bigger prisons.

The second highest drugs seizures, at 283 for the years, came at the remand prison Cloverhill which is next door to Wheatfield.

This year there has already been 339 drug seizures at Wheatfield.

Gangs have gone back to throwing drugs into the prison as other avenues have been shut down through the use of technology.

Scanners are now used to successfully detect documents, photos or clothes that have been infused with drugs.

The use of drones, which at one point posed a serious issue, has also been successfully countered with the use of specialist technology.

The Prison Service spokesperson added they “committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support our efforts to keep contraband out of prisons”

It was added staff have increased the use of random and “intelligence led cell searches” on a daily basis while sniffer dogs search around the prisons “including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons.”

“The Irish Prison Service continues to engage with An Garda Síochána with regard to preventing contraband entering our prison and this happens at both local and national level.”

“The Operational Support Group work closely with their colleagues in An Garda Síochána on a regular basis and the sharing of intelligence has led to target searches resulting in the seizure of contraband.”

The prison Service also due to publish a new drugs strategy aimed tackling “the problem of substance abuse in prisons over the next three years.”