B.C. prison placed on lockdown for 'exceptional search'

A correctional officer drives past the main gate to the Mountain Institution in Agassiz, B.C. Sunday, March 30, 2008. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

A federal prison in B.C.'s Fraser Valley has been placed on lockdown as staff conduct "an exceptional search."

The Correctional Service of Canada announced the lockdown at Mountain Institution in Agassiz, B.C., in a statement Friday.

Visits to the medium-security prison have been suspended until the search is completed, though "private family visits" are not affected, according to the CSC.

"The search was ordered to ensure the safety and security of the institution, its staff and inmates," the service said in its statement.

"Normal operations will resume as soon as it is considered safe to do so."

Mountain Institution is the second federal prison in the region to undergo a lockdown and "exceptional search" in the last week.

On Thursday, the CSC announced the end of a lockdown at Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford.

That lockdown had been in place since July 14. The correctional service said "a number of unauthorized items and contraband were found during the exceptional search," but did not elaborate on the items seized.