BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A search operation conducted today (Aug. 25) at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) revealed the find of a quantity of restricted items hidden in prisoners’ cells.
SKNVibes learnt that the operation was jointly conducted by members of the Special Services Unit and the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force, who, during the detailed search, allegedly found a Laptop, a quantity of controlled drugs, improvised weapons and a number of cellular phones including BlackBerries.
In an effort to authenticate the find, this media house contacted the Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for Operations, Joseph Richardson, who confirmed that a search of HMP was conducted and a number of restricted items were found, but refused to state their nature.
Also contacted was Assistant Superintendent of Prisons Connor, who, when asked to confirm the search and find, said, “You got to talk to the Superintendent.”
However, at press time, efforts to contact the Superintendent of Prisons were futile.
It seems to be a common occurrence in the Caribbean where searches of prisoners in correctional facilities reveal finds of prohibited items.
On February 8, 2009, a Lay Pastor was caught trying to smuggle marijuana and cellular phones into the Camp Street Prison in Georgetown, Guyana. More recently (June 7, 2011) at the same facility, a woman allegedly stashed a cellular phone in a piece of bread with the intention of passing it to an inmate.
In Trinidad, a prisoner at Remand Yard, Golden Grove Prison in Arouca was on Friday, February 4, 2011 transferred to the Maximum Security Prison section of that prison after he was found with an eight-inch ‘Rambo’ knife, three cellular phones and three chargers.
And in Jamaica, a July 2010 search of prisoners at the all-female Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Facility reportedly turned up at least five instances where mobile phones were hidden inside the vaginas of prisoners.
