from
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/children-used-as-prison-drug-mules-20150711-gia3fx.htmlChildren used as prison drug mules dated: July 12, 2015.
Children and babies are being used to smuggle drugs into Victoria's high security prisons as demand for ice and other potent street drugs soars among inmates.
The Sunday Age understands that visitors routinely circumvent prison security and anti-drug measures by concealing drugs in nappies, milk bottles and children's clothing, exploiting a reluctance by corrections authorities to search children.
The revelation comes as Corrections Victoria and private prison operators are grappling with the fallout from several recent drug overdoses, including a 21-year-old who died in Port Phillip Prison after allegedly swallowing a balloon filled with ice in a botched smuggling attempt.
Corrections Victoria has refused to release any information about overdoses and drug-related violence and deaths.
But prison sources and inmates' families describe the system as "awash" in street drugs, particularly ice and methamphetamine.
"High security, nothing. It's a joke," a source said. "Considering what ice does to people – how crazy it makes them – it's a time bomb waiting to go off."
In one incident, more than 20 inmates at Port Phillip were found significantly intoxicated by a drug believed to be a synthetic cannabinoid that was smuggled in over Easter.
Others report seeing prisoners stumbling around maximum security units or attending meetings with their solicitors unable to speak coherently. Assaults and standovers related to drug disputes are also common.
The Sunday Age understands a jailed gangland hitman and a notorious bikie convicted of one of Australia's largest drug importations act as major distributors inside one prison, operating with virtual impunity.
Sources say the families are a key method for smuggling drugs into the prison system during face-to-face visits.
"The biggest perpetrators are mothers with babies because they bring it in in the bottles and the nappies. What a great delivery service," one said.
The drugs are removed in the visitors' toilets, passed via hand or by kissing and then swallowed by the inmate and collected from their faeces once they are back inside their cell.
The Sunday Age understands prison authorities have the power to search children but are reluctant to use it.
"People who bring drugs into prisons are gamblers and gamble on not getting caught," Deputy Commissioner of Corrections Rod Wise said.
"The odds might be better stacked in their favour if they use children but they also need to realise that has high risks too, not least traumatising their children."
Victoria's coroner is currently investigating the death of 21-year-old Cain Hutchinson, who is understood to have died in Port Phillip Prison after a drug-filled balloon ruptured in his stomach.
In less than a month, at least two other inmates at Port Phillip are believed have overdosed but lived – one suspected of using heroin, and another who was rushed to the infirmary after reporting to guards one of three balloons he swallowed split open when he tried to pass them.
Sources say that since the fatal incident Port Phillip changed some of the security protocols surrounding family visits, but Corrections Victoria has refused to comment.
Drugs are also smuggled into prisons via delivery trucks, thrown over security fences, swallowed during visits to court, and brought in by corrupt guards.
In one notable attempt, two people were arrested outside the Metropolitan Remand Centre last year after allegedly planning to use a remote-controlled drone to drop drugs inside the facility. The charges were later dropped.
Sources also say the fight to keep drugs out of the prison system is being hindered by resistance from private prison operators to deploy expensive new technology and conduct time-consuming cell searches using drug detection dogs.
The publicly-run Metropolitan Remand Centre and HM Barwon Prison use a so-called "puffer machine" that has proven highly-effective at detecting even faint trace amounts of drugs on visitors and inmates
.
Port Phillip Prison, which is operated by company G4S, does not. G4S referred questions about its drug detection policies to Corrections Victoria.
Sources say private operators are also reluctant to ramp up their anti-drug efforts because keeping the number of detections low is tied to the financial compensation a company receives under its contract with the Victorian government.
Corrections Victoria declined to comment on why no standardised anti-drug measures are in place across the state's prison system, saying only that "rigorous barrier control and detection measures are in place to minimise the introduction of drugs in prison".
"Every prison system in the world has a battle on its hands with keeping drugs out. We're no different," Deputy Commissioner Wise said.
"What's happening in the community then transfers into prisons. If there's proliferation of heroin or ice on the streets, then we're likely to get a lot of it in prisons too."
But Catherine Davies from the Community and Public Sector Union said drugs were freely available in many of Victoria's prisons and accused Corrections Victoria turning a blind eye to the problem.
"At some point, we need to have a grown-up conversation, because the measures in place at the moment are not working, and drugs are flowing freely into our prisons," Ms Davies said."We urgently need to adopt new technology and review staffing arrangements at several prisons if we're serious about tackling the problem."
A prison source said intelligence staff were often not rostered over weekends, and inmates had been quick to seize on security weaknesses. Others report the desire to obtain pharmaceutical drugs used inside prison to treat mental illnesses and drug withdrawal leads inmates to sell or standover other prisoners for their medications.
Some prisoners go so far as to use pills that have been swallowed and thrown up by inmates in a bid to avoid detection by guards and medical staff. In 2013, Victoria's Auditor General recommended Corrections Victoria establish new protocols for assessing the effectiveness of its drug detection and treatment programs. All the recommendations have been accepted and four have been implemented.
BY THE NUMBERS:
6113 prisoners in Victoria
70% report using drugs in the year before going to prison
25,600 drug tests were conducted in 2012-13, with about 6.6% returning positive results
57.7% of positive drug tests detected buprenorphine (used to treat heroin addiction)
12.5% of positive drug tests detected amphetamines
9.8% of positive drug tests detected cannabinoids
Source: Corrections Victoria, Victorian Auditor General's Office, 2013
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