Sources have revealed that visitors at Addiewell Prison are smuggling drugs inside crutches for the inmates.
Sources revealed that Prisoners have been faking injuries to gain crutches ready for loved ones to visit. Then swapping the crutches with their friends aids which would be then be filled with the drugs.
A source said: “Guys are claiming to have sprained an ankle or whatever just to get crutches from the nurse.
“A friend will then come in with the same standard issue ones and they will swap on the sly in the visiting room.
“Plastic parts which go under the arms easily come off and are filled with anything from drugs and tobacco to aftershave.
“It’s been going on since well before the first lockdown. The screws haven’t had a Scooby.”
As it stood, this plan was full proof. All visitors had to leave all their possessions in a locker and then each visitor would then be searched by guards thoroughly before proceeding into the waiting, sources said that the crutches however would only get a glance before moving them on.
Inmate and now known convict Craig Sutton was given five years’ in Prison in November after he admitted running a drugs operation supplying heroin and ecstasy at Addiewell Prison and a second Prison between 2015 and 2017.
SCOTISH PRISONERS CAUGHT 7,000 TIMES OVER A YEAR WITH DRUG SMUGGLING AT A NEW HIGH
Research has now revealed that Prisoners have been caught with drugs over 7,000 times over the past year. And Valium is the top substance to be found on the streets and inside the prisons.
It was revealed that officers had discovered over 7,315 substances over the fifteen prisons including Addiewell Prison. Averaging at 20 substances being found daily.
These shocking figures have been revealed via the Freedom of Information (FOI) which now show that the amount of Etizolam in prisons has increased by over 600% in the last year. It has been said that Etizolam is a benzodiazepine drug which is similar to Valium but is reportedly a lot stronger and a far more dangerous substance.
BLUE PLAGUE PILLS
The drugs also known as “Blue Plaque” pills were found to have caused around 814 drug deaths across Scotland. And in May 2020, Etizolam was discovered in four Scottish prisons with the total number of incidents being recorded as eleven.
Now the figures for this year show prison officers recorded 78 incidents of the drug being found across twelve prisons. Now showing a staggering 609% increase in drugs being found and used within the prisons.
Amongst the worst prisons was Addiewell showing that over 1,200 drug recoveries had been made in the last year.
A Scottish Government spokesperson today said: “The use of illegal drugs in prisons is not tolerated and a comprehensive range of robust security measures are in place to prevent the introduction of contraband entering our prisons.
A spokesperson for HMP Addiewell said “Safety and security is our top priority and these figures reflect the hard work and diligence of our staff in preventing illicit items getting into the prison and in detecting such items when they do.
“This is a challenge that HMP Addiewell, like all other prisons, faces but one that will always be a key priority. Our staff deploy a range of tactics to stop illicit items being introduced to the prison and have robust searching procedures in place.”
