Corrections officers have busted an alleged smuggling plan to move drugs and contraband throughout NSW prisons via one of the largest prison kitchens in the country.
A haul of tablets, tobacco, vapes, phones and chargers was found inside boxes of A4 paper on May 31 at Geoffrey Pearce Correction Centre at Windsor in the Hawkesbury.
Corrections NSW said the boxes had been dropped off by a suspected mule.
Acting Governor Renee Craft said an officer’s instinct led to the discovery at the centre’s cook-freeze kitchen loading dock, which is a key preparation and distribution point for thousands of inmate meals each week.
“This was a particularly bold attempt to bring contraband into our prisons that played out in front of the eyes of our eagle-eyed officers and security cameras,” Craft said.
“Our cook-freeze kitchen prepares food for inmates in every corner of the state – there’s no reason for boxes of paper to be left there; our specially trained officers knew something was amiss and subsequently stopped the contraband from making its way into the prison network.”
Security cameras filmed an unknown person unloading the boxes of paper from the boot of a car and dumping them outside the secure perimeter of the secure kitchen loading dock.
It is unclear if the person knew what was inside the boxes or if they were booked as a courier by somebody else.
Police seized and destroyed the drugs.
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