Four Corrective Services detector dogs and their handlers have joined the effort to keep drugs out of the State’s prisons.
The recruits are now a part of the Drug Detection Unit (DDU) at the Department of Justice, Corrective Services.
They have been trained to sniff out drugs and contraband on prisoners, in their cells and on prison grounds, as well as on people entering jails including the prison car parks.
They can also assist with searching prisoners’ mail.
Labrador retrievers Blade, Zabel, Neo and Bowie along with Drug Detection Officers Jessica, Chris, Adrian and Jean-Luc have graduated from a 10-week Passive Alert Detection training program.
They have been posted to the metropolitan arm of the DDU and can be deployed to regional prisons.
Corrective Services Commissioner, Tony Hassall said the dogs and their handlers would play a significant role in enforcing a zero tolerance approach to drugs in prisons.
“During COVID-19 restrictions, including the suspension of social visits, the DDU has been able to increase efforts on screening mail and searching within facilities,” Commissioner Hassall said.
“We have seen an increase in people trying to smuggle contraband into prisons through the mail.”
He said processes and systems had been put in place to make sure that all mail got checked.
“Since 23 March there have been six interceptions of attempts to traffic the drug buprenorphine through mail sent to prisoners,” The Commissioner said.
“Drug dogs assisted in some of the intercepts.
“The DDU has also been involved in high-profile searches of facilities conducted jointly with the Special Operations Group in metropolitan and regional prisons,” he said.
