Contraband found in shoes seized in Mobilong prison. Picture: Department of Correctional Services Source: adelaidenow
IT IS the ultimate in jailhouse smuggling - a spud-gun bazooka that fires contraband over prison walls.
Once in the air, the package of drugs, weapons or mobile phones deploys a parachute and flutters safely down to a waiting inmate.
The bizarre device is one of an arsenal of different improvised tools used to smuggle illegal items to prisoners, ranging from a bow and arrow to a loved one's kiss.
As criminals become more innovative, the Department for Correctional Services is using cutting-edge technology to win its never-ending war against contraband. Motion sensors and biometric scanners than can "remember" fingerprints have helped authorities carry out three times the number of prisoner and visitor searches they did just three years ago.
The department's chief executive, David Brown, said that level of vigilance would continue.
"We know that prisoners and their visitors can be very resourceful and will try anything to smuggle contraband into our prisons," he said.
Tennis balls hit over fence filled with drugs. Picture: Department of Correctional Services .
"Our staff know what to look for, they are vigilant and highly skilled in identifying suspicious behaviour.
"The message is clear - it's tougher than it's ever been to smuggle anything into our prisons, and those who try could find themselves on the other side of the bars." The department this week granted the Sunday Mail an insight into the battle with smugglers.
In 2011-12, staff seized more than 1000 phones, drugs, homemade weapons and other banned items during 57,000 searches.
Over that period, a biometric verification scanner was installed at the Adelaide Remand Centre.
It scans and records a visitor's iris and fingerprints, meaning they can be linked to smuggling attempts.
Contraband projectiles found in spud guns Mobilong prison. Picture: Department of Correctional Services .
Prisons also feature metal detectors and X-ray scanning of all items.
Gates are equipped with trace detectors for explosives and narcotics, while fences have motion sensors. In 2008-09, before new technology was introduced, staff carried out 21,000 searches of prisoners and visitors and seized more than 700 items. Some of the more ingenious smuggling methods include:
ARROWS and tennis balls filled with drugs and fired or hit over prison walls.
TWO spud-gun bazookas - one with a parachute-deploying cartridge.
A SHOE containing drugs and a miniature syringe under the inner sole.
Contraband package found in the grounds of Mobilong prison. Picture: Department of Correctional Services .
Mr Brown said methods varied depending on the jail. Mobilong has more "projectile smuggling" than others because of its large recreation oval.
Staff at Cadell Training Centre, meanwhile, find contraband hidden in bushes around its perimeter fence. The latest criminal innovation takes its cue from international drug syndicates.
Individuals have attempted to conceal the chemical buprenorphine - a treatment for morphine addiction - inside letters and under stamps.
Smuggling-minded visitors, meanwhile, have abandoned the tradition of swallowing a drug-filled condom.
Instead, they are concealing them in their mouths and passing them to prisoners by kissing.
In 2011-12, prison staff banned 96 visitors from returning to jails because of their behaviour.
No records are kept of how many were prosecuted but, under state law, would-be smugglers face a maximum five-year jail term.
sean.fewster@news.com.au
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