Clandestine objects delivered by drone | Ali Baba’s cave discovered in Donnacona prison

Smart or disposable phones, USB cables, power cables for phones or tablets, adapters, Bluetooth headsets, knives, including one with a blade longer than 20 cm, craft picks, drugs, tobacco and even a tattoo awl: c It is a veritable Ali Baba’s cave that the correctional officers of the Donnacona penitentiary discovered on Monday.

Daniel Renaud
The Press

“During a search of the sector, the dog of one of our handlers stopped in front of a door. The correctional officers found it bizarre. They examined the cell door frame and found that it had been forged near the floor, just inside the cell. The officers discovered the hole and found all these objects in the frame, ”describes Frédérick Lebeau, regional president (Quebec) of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers affiliated with the CSN.

“The hole must have been there for a while. The frame metal was cut with a saw. Each time they took an object from their hiding place, the inmates filled the hole with craft materials, plaster or wet toilet paper, and respray the paint, the same as that of the penitentiary,” adds the chief. union.

Among the objects discovered, there is also a ceramic knife, undetectable by the detection devices installed at the entrances of the penitentiary, sandpaper and an Allen key, necessary to remove the screws or bolts present everywhere in the prison establishment.

According to our information, the row where the hiding place was discovered is occupied by members of street gangs from Toronto and other Ontario cities.

“System Failure”

“The Correctional Service must act before it is too late. Something serious is going to happen at some point. A conflict between gang members could end in bloodshed,” fears the union leader, who accuses Ottawa of dragging its feet in adopting solutions.

“This discovery is a demonstration of the failure of the system. The government is not reacting quickly enough. The Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada, Anne Kelly, cares very little about what happens in the institutions when it comes to drugs and weapons,” he says.

Mr. Lebeau believes most of the items found Monday were delivered by drone. According to him, there are at least two or three deliveries by drone each week in Donnacona, which would make it one of the worst penitentiaries in this regard.

A new drone detection system using 3D technology should be in operation starting in November in Donnacona. But Frédérick Lebeau also asks that body scanners, similar to those found in airports, be installed at the doors through which inmates return to the establishment after their outings in the yard, because the guards do not have the power to search them.

“We will be able to know that there were 475 drones during the day, but if we are not able to recover the delivered objects, we are not more advanced”, deplores Mr. Lebeau.

” We are worried. Until defense mechanisms are put in place, the mission of corrections is a dismal failure. We give no chance for social reintegration when we allow this kind of behavior, ”concludes the union leader.

No one at Correctional Service Canada was available Wednesday to comment on the discovery.

To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.