Correctional officer accused of smuggling at Collins Bay prison

Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., shown here in 2016, was the scene of two arrests last Tuesday as police investigate smuggling. (Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press - image credit)
Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., shown here in 2016, was the scene of two arrests last Tuesday as police investigate smuggling. (Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Police say an investigation into smuggling at a Kingston, Ont., correctional facility led to criminal charges against a correctional officer and an inmate earlier this month.

Kingston Police said in a news release on Tuesday that its intelligence unit joined investigators with Correctional Service Canada and Ontario Provincial Police last month.

They were looking into information that a correctional officer was smuggling goods to an inmate at Collins Bay Institution, Kingston Police said.

Last week, an unnamed 38-year-old correctional officer was arrested on the facility's grounds with drugs, knives and other contraband packaged for distribution, according to the news release.

Police said they seized a total of nearly 750 grams of cannabis and its extracts, plus smaller amounts of MDMA and tobacco, five knife blades, a digital scale and a cell phone charger.

That officer faces charges of mischief, specifically the type that puts someone's life in danger, breach of trust and possessing a controlled substance for the purposes of trafficking.

A 33-year-old inmate, also unnamed, is facing the same mischief charge. The officer was released from custody ahead of their next court date while the inmate remains in custody.

Collins Bay Institution, first opened in 1930, now houses minimum, medium and maximum security areas with capacity for 760 male inmates.

A correctional workers' union executive told CBC last year the facility's location within city limits but surrounded by fields also makes it a popular target for smuggling goods via drone.