Package containing nearly $1M worth of drugs, cellphones found at N.B. penitentiary

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

Correctional staff at Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick have seized a package containing illicit drugs and cellphones with an institutional value of $941,502.

In a news release Friday, the Correctional Service of Canada said the package was found March 3 on the perimeter of the medium-security institution. The contents included:

- methamphetamine

- ecstasy

- tobacco

- marijuana

- nicotine patches

- shatter/THC

- cellphones

Institutional value refers to what these items are worth if they are sold within a federal prison.

On Monday, corrections officials admitted the package containing the illicit drugs and cellphones was dropped by a drone on the perimeter of Dorchester Penitentiary . The drone was not recovered.

Drones have been involved in the delivery of other high-value packages containing illegal contraband to other federal institutions in the Maritimes, including the Atlantic and Springhill institutions.

On Feb. 19, correctional staff at the medium-security facility in Springhill, N.S., seized a package containing cellphones and accessories, steroids capsules, and THC/hashish worth at an estimated institutional value of $300,000.

The CSC says the package was dropped by a drone, which was not recovered.

RCMP says they received a call of a suspicious person suspected of operating a drone in the area the night of the incident, but didn’t find anyone.

On Dec. 9, staff at the Atlantic Institution in Renous, N.B., found a package containing $405,500 worth of crystal methamphetamine, shatter, MDMA (ecstasy), and marijuana.

In May 2024, $475,000 worth of crystal meth was discovered at the Springhill Institution.

Last May, the union representing correctional staff sounded the alarm on drone drug drops at Maritime prisons, saying the use of this technology is growing.

Rene Howe, the Atlantic regional president for Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, previously told CTV News violence is escalating due to the increasing amounts of hard drugs at the institution.

In an email late Friday afternoon to CTV News, the CSC says it’s working with local police and communities to detect and prevent contraband from getting into its institutions, as well as creating awareness about drones and illegal activities.

According to the correctional services, each institution is equipped with means to destroy the contraband, while in some cases, the evidence may be left with the RCMP if it was involved in an investigation.

As per regulations, “drugs, narcotics, firearms, explosives and ammunition are turned over to the police force of primary jurisdiction after the required administrative or disciplinary actions have been completed.”

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