Lockdown sees rise in Belmarsh prisoners receiving drug contaminated letters
Lockdown has seen a rise in Belmarsh prisoners receiving drug contaminated letters disguised as mail from their lawyers, a new report has shown
Correspondences which subsequently tested positive for illegal substances were found to have increased during the lockdown period as fewer visitors attended the prison.
Though guards managed to stop 42 contaminated letters entering the prison, packages which contained cannabis, and its synthetic equivalent spice, were flagged as a problem by the report by the Independent Monitoring Board.
The findings suggested that the majority of the letters were “bogus Rule 39 mail” - falsified confidential letters between a prisoner and their legal counsel.
Between May 2020 and June last year there were 110 drug finds by the service.
Despite its findings about drugs, the report said that the main area of concern was the existence and influence of gangs within Belmarsh.
The report noted that after a fight in March between Muslims and non-Muslims, where an office was seriously injured, they had to bring a “split regime” into effect where both groups had to be separated.
This follows a separate report by the IMB into HMP Wandsworth which found an increase in packages of drugs being thrown over prison walls during lockdown.
Their findings also said that parcels also started to include class A drugs which “suggested an absence of other contraband routes.”
Responding to the HMP Wandsworth report, a Prison Service spokesperson said: “We have taken action to address the concerns raised in this report and refurbishment work is already underway.
“An x-ray scanner – brought in last month as part of a £100 million security investment – is stopping drugs and mobile phones getting in. We are also working closely with the police and increasing patrols to stop throw overs.”
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “This report rightly praises Belmarsh for the tough and effective new security measures in place that are finding and stopping more drugs.”
