BDOCS Cracking Down on Contraband

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A crackdown on contraband at The Bahamas Department of Corrections (BDOCS) has led to the confiscation of a myriad of items including cell phones said to be used to arrange murders outside its walls.

Jasmin Brown has the details.

Prison officials confirming the crackdown has lasted for months and hundreds of items have been confiscated.

Drugs, cell phones, and even homemade weapons fashioned out of everyday items like toothbrushes were among the long list of contraband seized by corrections officers during a sweeping search of The Bahamas Department of Correctional Services since late September.

Acting Commissioner of Corrections Doan Cleare says that’s when the research and detection unit was set up.

Inspector Delvin Taylor who works in the unit says over the five month period, 174 cell phones, one pound of marijuana, dozens of cell phone chargers, several headphones, and scores of homemade weapons were confiscated.

Acting commissioner Cleare says with searches increasing, smugglers are finding riskier ways to get contraband into BDOCS, like tossing items over perimeter walls for inmates to collect.

He says the searches have also caused a hike in the sale of drugs.

Cleare says in addition to reestablishing the unit, officials are also hoping to implement additional technology to aid in searches.