Metal mesh yard cover to be rolled out at Midlands Prison in Laois
The mesh is designed to prevent drugs and contraband being dropped into the prison yards
The Irish Prison Service has confirmed metal mesh netting will be installed at the Midlands Prison and throughout the entire Irish prison estate.
The mesh is used as a countermeasure to prevent drugs, weapons, phones and other contraband being dropped into prison yards from the air.
In recent years there has been an increase in the number of drones being used to deliver drugs and phones to Irish prisons. The items are often dropped from the air into prison yards before being collected by inmates.
It’s a smuggling tactic which is reported to have resulted in nine prisoners falling ill at the Midlands Prison last weekend. They are understood to have taken drugs which were delivered into the Midlands Prison by drone. A number of the prisoners required hospital treatment but the Irish Prison Service confirmed today that all have since been returned to prison.
A metal mesh prison yard covering has been trialed at the nearby Portlaoise Prison and a number of prisons in Dublin. The metal mesh was introduced because flaming containers of drugs were being dropped on to traditional mesh covers. The flaming containers would then burn through the net before dropping to the ground.
An Irish Prison Service(IPS) spokesperson confirmed that “mesh is going to be rolled out across the prison estate”. The spokesperson was unable to provide a timeframe for the rollout but he confirmed the mesh is working in prisons where it was installed.
“The Irish Prison Service is committed to preventing the access of contraband into prisons and continues to be a high priority for the Irish Prison Service. The Irish Prison Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support our efforts to keep contraband out of prisons,” the IPS said in a statement.
The spokesperson said the IPS works in cooperation with Gardai who would be notified of incidents at the prisons.
“The Irish Prison Service continues to have high level engagement and the sharing of intelligence with An Garda Síochána on a regular basis which is resulting in the seizure of contraband, arrests and significant disruption to organised crime involved in smuggling contraband into Irish Prisons. An Garda Síochána continues to support the Irish Prison Service operationally with ongoing operations in each relevant Garda Division, including Operation Throwover which is supporting the Irish Prison Service at Prisons nationwide. Operations such as Operation Throwover are intended to disrupt, interdict and prosecute attempts to introduce contraband into prisons,” they stated.
The IPS said prison staff have increased the use of random and intelligence led cell searches on a daily basis.
“Our Canine Unit carry out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons. There is a free confidential telephone line (1800 855 717) and text line (086 180 2449) which is operational. Prisoners, visitors, staff or members of the public with information on the trafficking of prohibited items into our prisons can pass on that information in the strictest confidence.”