Prison and police officers on duty at the Lusignan jail yesterday morning averted an attempt to smuggle contraband into the prison, according to Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels.
Samuels, in a statement yesterday, said that officers on duty at around 2.15 am observed an individual at the north eastern section of the holding area. The individual, he said, attempted to throw a parcel wrapped in a plastic bag over the fence.
However, the individual’s efforts were thwarted after alert ranks fired at him. The individual, nonetheless, managed to escape, leaving the parcel behind.
Ranks, upon recovering the parcel, found ten smaller parcels containing a camouflage hat and a pair of short pants, 1002 grammes of cannabis, a large quantity of tobacco leaves, four cellphones without SIM cards, one charger, one earpiece and thirty-three packets of Bristol cigarettes, Samuels explained.
The prison director stated that checks were made for the individual in the neighbouring villages and access road by police and prison officers, but the searches were unsuccessful.
Three days ago Stabroek News reported that the Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan was angered by the frequent cases of smuggling of goods into the prison.
“…You get angry at what’s happening, you feel a sense of despair, but really it just goes to show the quality of some of our prison officers that allow that to happen”, Ramjattan told reporters on Friday when questioned about his thoughts on the situation.
In that interview, the Minister disclosed that he has been engaged in talks with the
Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan for the allocation of funds to purchase scanners for the entrances of these facilities to enhance security at the prisons.
Smuggling in the prison has been rampant in recent times, as raids have yielded a number of contraband items.
A few weeks ago, ranks from the Joint Services carried out a three-hour search of the Lusignan Prison and found improvised weapons, cellphones, cellphone batteries, phone chargers, phone cards, cannabis, cannabis seeds and a cannabis plant, among other items.
Two Saturdays ago, it was reported that the Police in `C’ Division had been summoned, following the discovery of a cutlass and a knife outside of the north eastern fence of the holding bay at the Lusignan Prison.
