Contraband worth almost $125K seized at federal prison in B.C.

The Mountain Institution in Agassiz, B.C. Sunday, March 30, 2008. (Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Officials at a medium-security federal prison in B.C.’s Fraser Valley say they have seized contraband items worth nearly $125,000 to the facility’s inmates.

The items were found in two packages “on the perimeter” of Mountain Institution in Agassiz on April 12 and 13, the Correctional Service of Canada said in a statement Wednesday.

Inside the packages were “cannabis concentrate, marijuana buds, crystal methamphetamine, tobacco, cigars, SIM cards, USB charging blocks and cell phones,” the CSC said, adding that the estimated “institutional value” of the seized items is $124,500.

The “institutional value” of contraband items varies from prison to prison, but is generally higher than their value in the outside world.

The CSC said police have been notified of the seizures and the institution is investigating.

“The Correctional Service of Canada uses a number of tools to prevent drugs from entering its institutions,” the federal agency said in its statement.

“These tools include ion scanners and drug-detector dogs to search buildings, personal property, inmates, and visitors.”

The CSC also has an anonymous telephone tip line for reporting security-related concerns at all federal prisons, which can be reached at 1-866-780-3784.

The latest seizure is the second with a six-figure institutional value the CSC has reported at Mountain Institution this month.

On April 1, the CSC announced that $140,000 worth of drugs, tobacco and technology had been seized in a package outside the prison in the last week of March.