Lockdown, search conducted at Dorchester Penitentiary

Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick. (Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic)

A federal correctional facility in New Brunswick was placed on lockdown earlier this week while officers conducted a search of the prison.

Correctional Service Canada (CSC) says the medium security unit at Dorchester Penitentiary was locked down on Monday to allow staff members to conduct the search.

“The search was ordered to ensure the safety and security of the institution, its staff, and inmates. Visits have been suspended until the search is completed,” reads a Thursday news release from the agency.

CSC says normal operations will resume once it is considered safe to do so.

CTV News has reached out to CSC to see if the facility is still on lockdown and whether anything was seized during the search.

The lockdown comes after officers seized more than half a million dollars of contraband at the penitentiary on June 2.

CSC said officers found a package containing the contraband on the perimeter of the prison. Officials said the items seized included methamphetamine, marijuana, shatter, nicotine patches and tobacco, with an estimated institutional value of $534,100.

They suspect the contraband was dropped by a drone.

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