Five busted for prison drugs
(CNS): Police have now confirmed that five people have been arrested in separate and unrelated incidents by unconnected visitors attempting to smuggle ganja into Northward Prison. A police spokesperson said that the five people were arrested yesterday (Sunday 14 February) at the prison on suspicion of committing various offences including possession of ganja, possession with intent to supply and consumption. The people included three woman, aged 20, 38 and 57 years, and two men aged 22 and 31 years. All have subsequently been released on police bail.
Police have confirmed that there was no special operation underway on Sunday but that routine searches appear to have uncovered a significant number of people attempting to bring in the drugs for inmates.
Although it is widely known that drugs have circulated inside the prison, it is some time since police arrested any individuals for trying to smuggle in drugs for prisons. During the trial of Randy Martin, who was convicted of murdering Sabrina Schirn near Wilderness Farm in East End, it was revealed that the prison farm facility was used as a regular drop off point for drugs that prisoners would then take back to Northward. The farm was closed following Schirn’s murder in March 2009.
In the past drugs have also made their way inside HMP Northward by drug couriers, who threw the contraband over the parameter fence.
Category: Headline News
ok lets put it all right now……….. prisoners dont get to choose what food they want, two choices come if they like neither then they dont eat. special diet is approve only by the doctor ok?
tv……..every civilised prison in the world has tvs.
food from home? …………. cooked food from home just doesnt happen. its not allowed. full stop.
lock them in cells for 23 hrs a day?……………. ok yes some are. the life prisoners and very disruptive. the rest? they work. inside and around the prison. education, offending behaviour classes, maths english. geography, drug abuse etc etc.. they ARE well behaved and do NOT tell officers what to do.
sack the staff?………… there are very limited numbers of caymanians as quite simply they do not apply for vacancies for whatever reasons. there are bad apples in every walk of life but they strive and will continue to strive to weed them out. all staff undergo weekly training and courses. they are actually very hard working.
get a dog?……….. there is a dog working there too, however if you know anything about dog work they can only work for so many hours then have to rest. plus many areas need to be covered.
give them ganja? ….. the staff are on top of ganja at every opportunity. show me a prison ANYWHERE in the world whichdoesnt have drugs? its part of prison culture unfortunately.
sack the director?…….. no one on this island could do a better job under the circumstances and with the budget and resources he is given. for over two years he has been working with some 15-20 staff short.
remember……….. prisoners are in prison for breaking the law and to be rehabilitated. they are not there for punishment. that IS their punnishment to have their liberty removed which it is.
every effort is made to rehabilitate and "get through" to every inmate in there. to help them lead law abiding lives on release. sometimes the individual unfortunately chooses to continue to break the law on his release.
what are prison staff to do then? go follow him around and wipe his arse for him too?
sometimes you need to take charge of your life and actions. there are about 160 caymanians in there out of 185 inmates roughly.
i rest my case.
Thank you very much for your comment. Everyone seems to think that the prison is some hotel when in fact it is not!! Everyone has their two cents to add in and don’t know sh!t about what goes on up in there. The "Marl Road Gossip" isn’t everything it is made out to be. Just get over it!! Until you know first hand what goes on in there keep your mouth shut, do the world a favor. Always blabbering about "Hotel Northward" andhow they gets this kind of food, AC and all kinds of rubbish I hear people saying. The food they get there not even a dog would want to eat that, AC…they only wish they had that in their cells. If you dont have facts then stop talking rubbish.
Drug was and will always be inside the prison. Am wondering why we are even calling it a prison, because they live better than me and you up there.
Prisoners can even request what kind of food they want and you have some prisoners even telling the guards what to do.
The prison need a new director and a overhall of the staff.
The Government need money, cut back on the prison and stop talking about selling the glass house, which I beleive blood will be shade over if that deal should ever happen.
my 2cents
for these criminals, they dont care if they going to jail if caught doing there staff, why? in prison, you dont have to work, youll eat 3 times a day, own t.v, 24/7 security guard, drugs anything!!!.. so why worry selling drugs on the street, robbing banks, killing people,rapeinnocent woman..PRISON SERVICE IS A MESS FROM THE DIRECTOR TO LOWER RANK OFFICERS..
This is great – see how easy it is! Instead of talking about it something is actually being done for a change…the question is though – HOW LONG WILL IT LAST FOR AND WILL IT BECOME A REGULAR ROUTINE.
It’s time to stop talking and put solutions into action – doesn’t matter if inmates find new ways of smuggling (because they always will) you just create new solutions. After all they are the ‘not so bright’ ones for having committed and being caught at their crimes compared to their educated superiors…OR ARE THEY???
my sugestion is: The punishment should be that prisoners should not be allowed to have any visitors until government invests money in putting up glass barriers and telephones to prevent physical contact between visitors and inmates.
This has been going on for years and now they decide to do something about it >>>>>> better later than never i guess !!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Northward Prison is a joke. I have been inside and I no how things are done. The staff are a joke. They need to fire all the staff and get new staff. Once you have contacts inside you can get anything you want. You can get Sex, drugs, cooked home food from your yard, money, cellphones, knifes, just about anything you want to make you more happy. The only thing you cant get is your sentence reduced. But you can get comfortable while your there.
When staff come to work at the prison they need to be checked and stripped search to make sure they dont bring anything illegal into the prison. But thats not happening. It may be 5 good officers at Norward that follow the rules and the rest are no good. Its our own CAYMANIAN OFFICERS who are messing up the prison service the most. If something is not done soon about the prison system the government might as well close it down. Its no good putting people in there are they dont get the punishment they need.
When I was in there people on the outside use to say oh prisoners are getting good treatment and good food but thats a lie only certain people get that treatment not all. I went there and served my time honestly and my lesson was learnt. Never again will I be back. I just hope that something will be done about the staff at the prison.
Give them ganja and video games – it will solve the prison violence problem in a week.
S
Northward Prison is a joke, lets face it. needs totally re-doing.
prison should be, 3 basic meals a day, 1 hour for exercising and the rest in cell. no tv, no cable, no internet. none of this time out for having fun. it’s prison! not a hotel or holiday resort.
1 visit a month from friends and family
cells should have a single fixed bed with 1 pillow and simple sheets, an a fixed placed metal toilet. thats it. people are there because they have commited a crime, not to relax in luxury.
close the prison, save money…send them all to cuba…
How about having a Drug Sniffer Dog check out all visitors, as they do in the airports.
That will soon stop this smuggling!
True, but drug sniffing dogs are custom bred and highly trained – you cannot buy these dogs – takes years (decades) to breed and train them and $$$$$$
More immediately, better and cheaper if the prison guards continue to do their job and regularly search all incoming staff and visitors as a matter of good prison-keeping policy.
Lying to Cayman’s federal prison staff should be made a felony charge, no misdemeanor pleas, and automatic disqualification from bail rights. Have all incoming visitors sign an acknowledgement that they understand the penalties for non-compliance. Give them teeth.
I like your idea about making lying to prison officers a serious crime which would eliminate any chance of parole.
The police and Customs have dogs already. Those dogs should be used to spot check at the prison, not only visitors and staff but also the buildings to supplement the prison officers activities. Ideally, the dogs should be sent to work at the prison with no notice to anyone at the prison that they are coming that day.
i think these people need punishment so they can learn from their mistakes…do nothing and it WILL NOT STOP it will continue because people before them arent being punished!! CAYMAN WAKE UP!!!! we are losing our ISLAND PUT THE COURTS to USE!!
Amazing, amazing.
If this was accomplished in one day, imagine how many other attempts have been made by the smugglers. Checks such as this should be done regularly and routinely. Seems to me that we were too relaxed, so we have to tighten up the visit times. This will be a distraction and those who would attempt to smuggle will reconsider, therefore shutting down the trafficking.
Put cameras up at the parameter fencing should the old way of throwing them over the fence be attempted again.
It would seem to me that It is easy to keep the prison in check. Because It is one facility manned by their own officers and therefore piping up security is real easy.
Bail? Why are we being so gentle? I can be caught taking drugs into prison and be home watching TV in less than 24 hours. No wonder we are decending into lawlessness.
Oh please!
I went to do a hand in one day and watched as the officer took inventory of another inmates stuff – and would you believe it? A BIG PACK OF RIZZLERS being handed in. Of course the excuse was so that the inmate can roll a smaller cigarette to smoke – boy he must be a heavy smoker too cuz there was also 3 packs of B&H handed in as well!
Northward is a Joke! That’s why these gangs don’t care – they probably safer and getting better treatment inside there anyway!
CAYMAN IS A BACKWARDS AS HAITI – and get worse by the minute!
What was the deciding factor for the corrections officers actually waking up and doing their jobs.
The last time the correction officers tried to take control of the prison there was a riot, back in 1999.
There are going to be some p*ssed off inmates, be careful.
Where is the LOGB ?
Our leader is in Canada! As a leader, he has done little else except travel the globe and spoil himself at grand events. I HOPE he was smart enough to attend this one on his OWN dime and not the peoples (**as the Olympic committee already has designated representatives there.)
‘….three women aged 20, 38, and 57..’
38 being almost twice , and 57 – three years short of 3x that of the youngest woman, and still she never learnt?
I guess being older does not necessarily mean being wiser.
How can the younger generation ever learn if the older generation never did? What nuggets of wisdom can be handed down?
No doubt we will no hear complaints that "room service" at the Northward Hotel has been not up to its usual standards. Heaven forbid if they ever cut off their ability to order take out food from the finer pizzarias and restaurants in Cayman as and when they please. Is there any wonder as to why the threat of prison is no deterrent?
ok, well done to the prison staff but what now? they will appear in court and nothing will happen only a small fine or probation right? waste of time. start hitting these scum where it hurts. stop playing around cayman, sentence these people. otherwise its just a joke and a loosing battle.
I guess credit for these arrests should go to the Prison Service Staff who no doubt conducted the ‘routine searches’ – well done! Dr. Bill R. would have been proud of you.