Booze, drugs found in prison

| 20/08/2013

(CNS): More alcohol, a sizable stash of drugs and a Blackberry were found at HMP Northward over the weekend during a search of inmates’ cells. Officials say that this latest haul of contraband was found in the facility’s Bravo Wing on Sunday, 18 August. In one cell they found two bottles of what appears to be white rum (1 litre each), five packs of Rizlas, two packs of double platinum tobacco cigar wraps, and three parcels of vegetable matter resembling ganja (weighing roughly 2lbs 10oz with wrapping). In another cell they found a Blackberry Curve mobile phone. Director of Prisons Neil Lavis explains that the search of the cells took place after a prison officer saw an inmate run back to a cell block after picking up a package that had been thrown over the fence.

“We will continue to take prompt action against those whom we suspect of having contraband. This was a piece of good work from the officer involved,” Lavis said.

On 9 August, prison officers found a tightly wrapped package containing 2lbs of ganja and a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream that had been tossed over the 15 foot security fence for inmates. The package was found during a regular check of the perimeter fences.

Last month, a bag containing around five ounces of ganja, a box of smoking papers, a smart phone and charger was also thrown over the perimeter fence at HMP Northward. Officials said at the time that they were looking at the prison's cameras to try and identify the person who attempted to deliver the parcel over the prison fence to an inmate. No update has been given on this, however.

While members of the public who are caught throwing illegal items into the prison are subject to criminal prosecution, the inmates who intercept them lose remission time from their sentences.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Northwood now must be one of the best hotels in the caribbean

  2. Anonymous says:

    Wouldn't a pair of security dogs living comfortably just inside the perimeter fence go a long way to alert to escapees & object being thrown over the fence? I doesn't seem all that complicated.

  3. Anonymous says:

    can you just search every cell every week on a random time and date?

    You will find way more …..

  4. The lone haranguer rides again! says:

    The party over, new sherif  in town!

    • Anonymous says:

      Seems to me the party's just begun.

    • Anonymous says:

      Ummh yeah, that's exactly the problem.  One little bust and everyone thinks that the stars have all of a suddenly magically aligned in this great universe of ours  Give it a few years to truly see if there's a new sherrif in town.  I bet that not much will change.

    • Anonymous says:

      It appears HMNP is the place to be with all these perks.

    • Anonymous says:

      The only time the party will be over, is when the old bags are replaced with new ones.  Read my lips. When the bucket is leaking you are compelled to buy an new replacement.

  5. Kadafe says:

    Does anyone know up there at the prison know what CCTV cameras are? 

    I don't know why on earth these are not posted on every corner anyway. What about license plate readers for the perimeter? Any cars passing this way would not only get caught on cam but their license plates recorded to prevent any mistaken identities. Lol

  6. William Wallace says:

    I suspect more breakouts?

  7. Anonymous says:

    This is no news.. Drugs been in the prison for years.. Since the prisoners are awarded to the state/government, they should be required to take a drug test and if the drugs are in their system after a month or so.  Add a year to there sentance.

     It will be **** or get off the pot for them..  If they continue give them two years.  Lets change the laws if we have to make this work..  

    • SSM345 says:

      The problem with regular drug testing is that it is very expensive when testing everyone in Northward. Much cheaper to just randomly test those who are known to use / suspected of using.

      • Anonymous says:

        And what you gonna do if they test positive? Err..put them in ….err…Northward. Waste of money

  8. Anonymous says:

    Some of these comments consist  of stupidness mainly accusing this one and that one and the next one. 

    And to the comment about building a higher fence for the prison, what exactly do you want put in place? The walls of Jericho? Take it out of your own pocket 😉  The government has NO time to spend building walls when they CANT even help out their own Caymanians. 

    Lol, sounds like many of you have been there before.

    WHY  DONT SOMEOF YOU GUYS GO AND APPLY FOR PRISON DIRECTOR AND MAKE THE CHANGE THEN, SINCE ITS SOOO EASY TO CONTROL THE PRISONERS & PREMISES, PERHAPS?

  9. UH UH UH says:

    Government says it has spent more than a million dollars on close circuit cameras supposedly covering most of the public areas where crime is more likely to occur, but they obviously have forgotten the prison at Northward.

    My question is, why don't they have a system at the prison that works with infra red motion detection? If this was in place and working properly, the minute anyone got within one hundred feet of the perimeter fence { here I'm assuming that these things occur mostly at night} the camera detects the motion and triggers an alarm, which in turn floods the area with intense white light, and   would simultaneously trigger the release of security dogs cornering these idiots who were trying to toss "STUFF" into the prison yard. 

    This kind of system would have "not only saved us time and money" but we would have proof positive who these "DUMB ASSES" were, thus saving us the expense of a long investigation and  evntually "THEY" too would join their friends in Northward. 

    JUST A THOUGHT FOLKS!! 

     

  10. Anonymous says:

    My friends went to Northward and all I got was a crappy BlackBerry Curve ……..

     

  11. Anonymous says:

    This is completely ridiculous! They just need to reinforce the prison fences or build concrete walls – duh!

    To stop the drugs and other contraband being thrown over the fence, they need to set booby traps around the perimeter (eg. maiden plum, bear traps, land mines, snake pits, spike pits, cow itch, iguana dung, etc.).

    Why is it that the people on the outside always seem to have better ideas than those who are doing the job? What kind of people are we hiring to work at Northward man?

    Geez! They need help!

     

     

  12. Anonymous says:

    Nice Name ….BRAVO wing,  lol… bravo indeed !!  lol lol  party in my cell !!!

  13. Anonymous says:

    Geez why would anyone want to escape?

  14. Anonymous says:

    Glad to see they are smoking this with some good paper and don't have to resort to patty bags.

    • Anonymous says:

      That's because only we outsiders have to resort to eating patties.

  15. Anonymous says:

    How on earth can they be smoking so much weed and no one is able to smellit.  These are inmates..take weekly drug tests ….this needs to stop as the whole justice system is beginning to look like a joke.

    • Anonymous says:

      It's like the fish being unaware he is swimming in water my friend. The scent is so prevalent no one notices it anymore. 

  16. Anonymous says:

    Simple solution, rather than the chain link fence that can easily be cut.

    Put up a brick wall reinforced with steel and concrete.

    1. It will be effective and shouldn’t cost a huge amount.
    2. They won’t be able to cut through or scale that.
    3. Persons who throw weed, liquor, contraband, etc over the fence will be scared to do so because they won’t be able to see when the coast is clear.
    4. The inmates who are in for non-violent offenses who may deserve a slight reduction in their sentence for good behavior CAN BUILD IT!!!!!!! FOR FREE!!!!!!!
    • Anonymous says:

      Just ban all visits.  The scum should be cut off from society completely when they are in there.

    • Anonymous says:

      With the amount of drugs in there they could PISS a hole through a concrete fence.

    • SSM345 says:

      Or simply electrify the existing fences.

  17. "Full of Hope" says:

    I thought this facility was being used to re-habilitate our offenders.  If these men would take a stock of themselves and realize that having their needs still being met whilst in prison should indicate that their "so-called friends & family members" DON'T have any intention of them ever coming out.  Can't they wise up and try to WANT better for themselves.

    There are persons on the outside lobbying for them to be re-instated into society, being able to be given a fair chance to prove themselves.  How can any business undertake person of such character who don't seem to want better.  We as a society complain that 'these foreigners' are here to take our jobs.  If YOU really wanted it, you would put yourselves at strategic points to enabling yourself to acquiring such.  Do better for self and your country. 

    • Anonymous says:

      I have never quite understood how prison has gained the reputation of being a rehabilitating program.  Surely there must be a better way to save the future of the individuals partaking in such activities, for the rest of their lives these men will be discriminated against for the consumption of a harmless plant.  They will have very limmited oppurtunities regardless from this point on.  Maybe a better course of action to take would be the decriminilization of marijuanna.  If not then I say hey let them have their booze and weed in the prison system, the number of escapees would double overnight if they controlled substances going into the prison.

  18. Sam Droopy says:

    Can anyone just imagine what the hell was going on prior to a New director of the prison arriving here? If that doesn't scare the living dayliights out of you nothing will! Yet we still have some praising the previous adminstration director when this contrast in conduct is so clear you cut it in two seperate pieces. XXX

    • Anonymous says:

      Yep I can tell you what's going on, ITS VACATION TIME AT HMP, the lights are on but the dogs are all asleep.

  19. Anonymous says:

    How much would it cost to build the fence higher?

    • Anonymous says:

      and out of blocks not wire.

    • Anonymous says:

      I honestly believe they should have a brick wall and another fence surrounding the prison. The logic behind this is if something passes on fence it will be stuck between the first and second one. Hint no one will have access to that area. Have you even seen a prison anywhere else in the world with a chain-link fence?

    • Anonymous says:

       

      I'm afraid building it higher wont keep Stevie in.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Oh come on now man! Seriously!

    "a package that had been thrown over the fence".

    Why isn't this area not monitored 24/7.

    Or install high tech CCTV, and have these ppl prosecuted.

    Then again, I have never been there. So maybe it more than what I think.

    Easier said than done.

     

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Devil's advocate here. If you worked in a prison, wouldn't you want all of the prisoners to be stoned too?

      As we all learnt growing up, where there is the will, there is a way. The occupants of Northward have all day to think up ways to have people bring them things. Total eradication of contraband in prisons would be an exhausting, all-consuming, neverending process at a cost far in excess of the benefits, if not actually an impossible task due to the reality of human empathy and error.

      People never seem to appreciate that the government is in the business of the 'good enough'. It has to decide between competing priorities and make sure that, at the end of the day, mostly everything is mostly okay. The prison, admittedly, has been reviewed and found not to meet that standard. But that is the attitude you need to be judging government actions with. 

       

    • Anonymous says:

      hey mon, dat was no package, dat was a truck load…

  21. Whodatis says:

    Nah man … Northward sound like da party spot?!!

    Free and all-inclusive, no less!

    Must be nice …

    • Anonymous says:

      Wouldn't be the party spot if the people on the outside would stop supplying the party material !

      Officials need to put in place a patrol of premises on a round the clock basis…… got throwing over the fence becomes a maximum sentence of one+ years then maybe people would grow a brain and use it!!

      While I do agree that there is more than HMP officials could do,  these no brain people on the outside are not helping the situation either.

       

    • Anonymous says:

      Rumour has it that this is all you can find in Northward these days…

    • Knot S Smart says:

      Yea.. But you dont want to go there…

      Especially with that new British boss in charge – I dont think you and him would hit it off very well…

    • Anonymous says:

      It would be nicer if they were in a prison like what you find in South America.

      • Anonymous says:

        15.44, we all listening, sounds like you have the necessary expertise..

  22. Prison Party? says:

    Alomost 3 lbs of ganga?  Seriously?  That is a LOT of weed, holy cow this is some full-on trafficking!  That has got to be another record haul.  What a party in prison?

    This is not a little spliff.  Okay, you stoners out there, 2lbs 10 oz:…. that equates to HOW many spliffs?   Is this the monthly drop for the entire prison population?

    • Anonymous says:

      According to my calculations that equates to about 5,642 spliffs.  And please we like to go by the term 'free souls' rather than 'stoners'.  Very tasteless on your part.

    • Anonymous says:

      Make the right drop and we will all know who the users are.  Let them have a free for all and enjoy. 

  23. beachbay meatballs says:

    Perhaps the time has come to erect watch towers at H.M.P Northward,as well as to do random fence mobile patrols.

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Have you seen where the prison is located ? surrounded by large trees.

      Can't someone with the authority  suggest they flatten those large trees. I have never seen a prison set back amongst trees. There is no wonder so much contraband is thrown over the fence.

      Wake up people! things have to change from the old way we did things in these Islands.

      • Anonymous says:

        Would need 15 commissions, 3 open tenders  (the first two will fail transparency tests and be failed by the new Governor) and at least 10 more civil servants to get that done. And then it will take 5 years.

      • Anonymous says:

        Can we make a contribution to purchase more CAMERAS?  I think that would be a giant leap forward.

      • Anonymous says:

        Wrong question 11.22…it should be "does anyone know where the prisoners are located?"

    • Anonymous says:

      Instead of watch towers (for which additional staff has to be paid year round), I suggest a fence with a distant of approx 15-20 feet to the current perimeter of the prison and existing fences. This will  create a "no-man land" where nobody except the guards have access to. Nobody should then be able to throw someting inside the prison compoung. If needed, have a couple of guard dogs patroling in that space, that should alert the guards to any unwanted movement.

      In addition, the whole prison needs to go on lock-down when contraband is discovered and prisoner must remain locked in their cells for a number of days with perhaps one hour supervised walking/day etc. Make them put pressure on each other…….

      Also, please make an effort to find out who throws the contrabands across. Obviously, they must be linked to the receiving prisoner, and it is time that somebody will be arrested for that and put in prison themselves.

      Otherwise, this is all just a bunch of hot air we are hearing and I can hear the prisoners laughing from where I sit at my desk!