Drugs, technology and tobacco worth $140K seized outside B.C. prison

The Mountain Institution in Agassiz, B.C., on Sunday, March 30, 2008. (Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press)

Contraband items worth more than $140,000 to inmates were seized at a federal prison in B.C.’s Fraser Valley last week, according to authorities.

The seized items were found in a package “on the perimeter of Mountain Institution” – a medium-security prison in Agassiz – last week, the Correctional Service of Canada said in a news release Tuesday.

Inside the package, officials found “methamphetamine, shatter, card readers, cellphones and charging cords, SIM cards and tobacco,” the CSC said in its release. It did not specify how much of each item was seized.

The “institutional value” of the seizure – which represents its worth to inmates and is always inflated relative to the value of the same items outside the institution – is $140,300, according to the CSC.

The service attributed the discovery to “the vigilance of staff members,” and said police have been notified. Prison staff are also investigating, the CSC said.

“The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) uses a number of tools to prevent drugs from entering its institutions,” the release reads.

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

The service also has a tip line for all federal institutions, which allows for anonymous reporting of security-related concerns at CSC facilities. The toll-free number is 1-866-780-3784.

Last month, a former corrections officer was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in smuggling contraband items into the Kent Institution, B.C.’s only maximum-security federal prison.

• Read more: Former B.C. corrections officer gets 5-year sentence for taking bribe, smuggling contraband