A creative attempt to smuggle drugs into Rimutaka Prison in Upper Hutt this week was thwarted when a drug dog indicated on a painting.
Staff discovered the painting had a hollow back, and inside found a cellphone, charger, eight grams of cannabis, eight grams of tobacco, matches and cigarette papers.
The discovery was made when the detector dog team was checking incoming mail and prisoner property on Wednesday and drug dog Oscar indicated on the piece of art work.
"Oscar and the team did a fantastic job at picking this up," said Prison Director Viv Whelan.
"Prisoners are always looking for new ways to try to smuggle contraband into the prison and we work really hard to prevent that from happening," she said.
The items found in the painting have now been passed on to police for investigation, Ms Whelan said.
"I hope that this sends a clear message to those who do try to test the boundaries. The sender may face criminal prosecution, and could be banned from visiting the prison," she said.
Ms Whelan said the prison uses a range of methods, including regular targeted and random searches of prison perimeters, cells, mail and visitors, detector dog teams, x-ray technology and telephone monitoring of prisoners' calls, to prevent contraband from getting into prison and stamp out opportunities for organised crime.
"If prisoners are in possession of contraband, it can pose a serious risk to the safety of other prisoners and our staff and prevent prisoners from fully engaging in rehabilitation interventions," she said.
SHARE ME