Seizures show illicit items still getting in despite security

THE SCALE of Thomas Corry’s smuggling activities was extraordinary. His case underlines the extent to which even one corrupt prison officer can undermine the Irish Prison Service’s plans to keep contraband out of jails.

While Corry was convicted and imprisoned for drug possession, his attempt to smuggle a staggering 31 mobile phones – with chargers and bluetooth headsets – to Limerick Prison inmates is arguably the most worrying aspect of his activities.

While the inmates he was supplying have not been named, Corry suggested to gardaí that some were gangland criminals from Limerick. These men have for a decade been engaged in the Republic’s most volatile feud.

Supplying them with phones would allow them to continue to participate in, and in many cases direct, the infamous feud from their cells by organising drug deals and shootings by phone.

This completely undermines every aspect of the criminal justice system – from the endless hours worked by detectives on gang-related surveillance in Limerick, to the legislative changes the Government has introduced to jail gangs more easily. What is the point of imprisoning the State’s most dangerous men if they can continue in serious crime by phone from a jail cell?

The Irish Prison Service has attempted to stem the flow of drugs and phones in recent years.

A strict new search regime, involving sniffer dogs and airport-style security, has been introduced for all visitors and staff. Nets have been erected over exercise yards to prevent items being thrown in. Chairs detecting internally concealed objects have also been introduced.

Department of Justice figures reveal 2,174 phones were seized in jails last year. This was up on the 2,047 found in 2008, in spite of the new security steps. The total of drug seizures across 14 of the State’s 17 prisons in the first 11 months of last year – figures were not available for three jails – was 1,106, or 100 a month. This is well over double the average of 43 seizures a month in 2008.

Some of the increase in detections last year is attributable to the more stringent security regime and so is to be welcomed.

When Corry was arrested in March 2008, the new security was being rolled out. It is impossible to know whether this would have ended his enterprise had gardaí not caught him. The still-high number of phone and drug seizures suggests inmates are still beating the system.