–operation nets cache of banned items
A MASSIVE search of all five of the country’s prisons on Monday has unearthed contraband and prohibited items.
The search, which involved some 260 security officers from both the Guyana Police Force and Guyana Prison Service, was mounted between 05:50 and 14:30hrs.
Among some of the items found were: Cell-phones, 21 in all; SIM and Memory cards; 61 lighters; 12 smoking utensils; four metal forks and spoons; 52 razor blades; six earpieces; several packets of cigarettes and bamboo; four phone adapters and a quantity of phone chargers; five pairs of scissors in addition to a large quantity of improvised weapons; 12 bottles of fermented wine and three bottles of pepper sauce; a quantity of nails, six compasses and five pieces of broken mirrors; a quantity of stones; ‘AAA’ batteries and sandpaper; and 46 grams of cannabis.
According to the authorities, the smuggling of contraband items into prisons remains a perennial problem within the system, but they have been working assiduously to curb the practice.
Their efforts, they say, have not gone unpaid, as they have resulted in several prison officers being caught facilitating the illegal trade, which is said to be “big business”.
Back in July, Director of Prisons (ag), Gladwin Samuels had disclosed during a press conference that several prison officers had been relieved of their duties, after they were found to be working in collusion with each other in order to facilitate the movement of suspected contraband into the Lusignan Prison Holding Bay area.