Nearly $950,000 in contraband was seized at Dorchester Penitentiary in one day.
Staff discovered a single package containing drugs and other unauthorized items on the perimeter of the medium-security unit Tuesday, Correctional Service of Canada announced Friday.
The items included methamphetamine, ecstasy, a potent marijuana derivative known as shatter, marijuana, tobacco, nicotines patches and cellphones, according to a news release.
The total estimated institutional value of these items is $941,502, Sophia Doiron, communications advisor for Correctional Service of Canada regional headquarters, Atlantic, said in a statement, crediting the “vigilance of staff.”
She could not immediately be reached to comment about how unusual a seizure of this size is.
Police have been notified and the prison is investigating, Doiron said.
Nearly 700 inmates
Dorchester is a multi-level security prison for men located in the village of Dorchester, between Sackville and Memramcook, in southeastern New Brunswick.
The medium-security unit, which has a dome design, has a rated capacity of 397 inmates, while the minimum-security unit has a residential design and is rated for 302 inmates.
The Correctional Service of Canada is “heightening measures to prevent contraband from entering its institutions in order to help ensure a safe and secure environment for everyone,” according to the news release.
It already uses a number of tools to prevent drugs from getting in, including ion scanners and drug-detector dogs to search buildings, personal property, inmates, and visitors, the statement says.
There is also a toll-free, confidential telephone tip line for any information related to security at its institutions, 1-866-780-3784.
