Post and clothes bound for Portlaoise jail soaked in drugs

Letters to prisoners in Portlaoise have had to be photocopied because the paper was soaked in drugs, according to the Governor of the Midlands Prison.

David Conroy also revealed that clothes sent to inmates were also soaked in drugs during Covid-19 visiting restrictions. 

He reavealed the avenues used by prisoners in an interview with the Irish Times where he said smuggled phones and drugs remained a problem in when physical visits were cancelled during the pandemic.

“The post was being dipped in psychoactive substances,” he said.

He said this forced staff to photocopy of all correspondence. New technology to detect the psychoactive substances had to be procured before originals could be issued.

Hwever, other means were used by inmates

 "Clothes coming in during the pandemic were soaked in psychoactive substances," he said.

He also spoke about other means such as broken windows and drones.

“There was a guy... going to a number of different prisons in the middle of the night and he was doing drone deliveries. You always have to be looking out for these things," he said.

There are more than 800 prisoners locked up in the Midlands Prison making it Ireland's biggest jail.