Province implementing body scanners to deter drug smuggling at jails

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Corrections and Policing is working to put full-body X-ray scanners in all of its correctional centres.

The pilot project will start with one scanner at the Regina Correctional Centre on March 31, 2019. The ministry plans to add a new scanner to one facility each year until each of its three adult facilities and three youth facilities have one.  

Spokesperson Drew Wilby said the scanners were a recommendation from the Coroner's office following an inquest into an inmate death at Kilburn Hall Youth Centre in Saskatoon.

Similar tragedies have occurred at other facilities, including Pine Grove, a women's jail north of Prince Albert.  

"A female came in, she had brought some contraband in, in one of her body cavities, and she did die from an overdose-related issue," Wilby said. "We want to prevent that from happening and we'll take all means necessary to do that."

Regina police catch 2 smugglers in 3 weeks

Regina Police Service said it has recently caught more people smuggling drugs into cells. Within a three-week period, two men who turned themselves in to police were caught with drugs concealed inside their bodies. Police said the drugs included methamphetamine, morphine, marijuana and Concerta — a stimulant used to treat ADHD.

Both men had to undergo immediate surgery to get the drugs out.

"The Regina Police Service is concerned that this type of behaviour is becoming more frequent," said the Regina Police Service in a news release. "It cannot be overstated that anyone contemplating this kind of action should reconsider.  

"The legal consequences are significant, but the risks to health and life are greater."

Wilby said drug smuggling is now "far too common." People use plastic eggs to pack drugs and insert them into their rectums for concealed transport into government facilities. Associates on the outside also throw drugs over the fence.

Recently, a guard at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre found a package in the yard. Inside was kinder-egg packed with drugs, inside lubricated condoms.

Wilby said this kind of drug smuggling can be especially dangerous.

"It could potentially explode or open up inside. We've had incidences of individuals needed them surgically removed and that could result in a colostomy, it could result in death," he said.

X-ray machines up to $200K each

The province does not conduct cavity searches at its facilities, so metal detectors or pat downs are used to detect contraband coming in from the outside. There is no process for detecting internal contraband on inmates or visitors.

The province's four adult custody facilities, the Regina Correctional Centre, Saskatoon Correctional Centre, Prince Albert Correctional Centre and Pine Grove Correctional Centre, hold a combined total of about 2,000 inmates.

The machines will cost between $100,000 and $200,000 each, but Wilby said they are expected to cut down on costly incidents like drug-related disturbances, which can cost the system hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"If you have a death associated with this and a lawsuit is enacted against the government, obviously the cost of that can be long, and high, and, not only that, but you've lost a human life," he said. "We believe that the safety that will be driven through the use of these machines to prevent contraband from coming in will be well worth it in the long run."

Wilby said it has not been decided whether staff will also go through the scanners before entering.