Inmate at centre of smuggling ring nabbed with cell phone

Feb 13, 2009 News

The prison orderly who is said to be at the centre of a smuggling ring in the Georgetown Prison is now in solitary confinement, after being nabbed with a cellular phone.

Prison sources said that the inmate, who is serving time for manslaughter, was caught on Wednesday with the mobile phone in the prison chapel.

Repeated attempts by Kaieteur News to contact Director of Prisons Dale Erskine proved unsuccessful, while Deputy Director Poshanand Tahal declined comment.

The incident occurred on the same day that this newspaper published allegations about a ring of corrupt junior and senior prison staffers who collude with prisoners to smuggle drugs, cash, alcohol and cell phones in the Georgetown Prison.

Prison officers and inmates identified the prison orderly in solitary confinement as a key player in the smuggling ring.

They said that he has access to virtually every section of the prison and acts as a go-between in the illegal transactions.

According to the sources, the inmate is closely linked with a civilian who was allegedly nabbed with an illicit drug in the prison a few days ago.

Erskine confirmed that he has received similar reports about this convict. According to the Director of Prisons, the inmate has been warned and was even transferred at one time to another penitentiary.

However, Erskine could not say whether the prison orderly was ever caught with any illegal substance.
The Director of Prisons has promised to investigate the allegations leveled against his ranks and this newspaper has been told that a probe is already underway.

Identifying some of the alleged culprits by name, the sources even claimed that an office is used as a ‘short time room’ for sexual liaisons between prisoners and their spouses.

Erskine expressed skepticism about this allegation, as well as reports of one of his senior officers collecting money to influence the transfer of some prisoners.

According to reports, visitors who wish to keep in contact with incarcerated relatives pay about $3,000 to have cell phones smuggled into the penitentiary.

The sources identified by name a female prison officer, who would allow the relatives of some prisoners to pass through the prison gates on Sundays, when visits are prohibited.

The Kaieteur News report said that corrupt ranks sell marijuana directly to some prisoners, who then turn a profit by selling at a higher price to their fellow inmates.

It was alleged that so much money circulates in the Georgetown Prison that ranks sometimes find hundreds of thousands of dollars that inmates have stashed away.

The racket reportedly even involves kitchen staffers selling ‘special meals’ to prisoners.
Some prison officers fear that those involved in the smuggling of items into the prison may cause dangerous inmates to get their hands on firearms.