Drugs ‘smuggled into prison from court’

Drugs and other prohibited items including mobile phones are being smuggled into prison from court, reports said on Monday.

According to Phileleftheros, the drugs and prohibited items come into prisoners’ possession while they are being transferred from courts to prison.

They added that while the exact ways have not yet been determined, it is believed that “they have access to them with the cooperation of third parties”, and therefore can successfully smuggle them into prison.

This is possible despite the fact that while they are in court, prisoners and individuals being held under remand are held in special secure premises on the courts complex.

Phileleftheros said that while such incidences were reported in the press, the police has now internally admitted that drugs and other prohibited items are being smuggled into prisons via the courts.

It has been reported that as a result, an order has been issued from senior figures within the police force for “strict controls” to be implemented at courthouses across the country to deal with the phenomenon.

Police officers have reportedly been ordered to “constantly monitor prisoners and carry out strict controls and investigations” on those being transferred between courts and prisons.

The use of mobile phones and drugs in prisons has been a matter which has concerned the police for a while, with an investigation into the use of mobile phones and drugs by inmates being launched in 2022.

The investigation came about after it was found that a man who was serving life sentences for murder was the ringleader of two further attempted murders, which he had orchestrated using a mobile phone behind bars.

The deputy attorney-general’s office at the time also cited “recent reports” which allege rampant drug use inside the prisons.

More recently,  a prison guard was arrested for the possession of drugs in December and suspended from his job.

Another had been arrested in November, with information at the time suggesting that the guard in question was systematically involved in smuggling drugs into the prison for detainees.