Hashish, cannabis shatter, methamphetamine and pills that included fentanyl confiscated

Contraband valued at almost a quarter of a million dollars, including various drugs and weapons, was confiscated earlier this week at the Edmonton Institution, a maximum-security federal institution.

Citing the vigilance of staff members at the maximum-security facility, hashish, methamphetamine, shatter, pills (including fentanyl), stabbing weapons, cellphones, cellphone chargers and SIM cards were among the items seized on May 10, according to the Prairie Region of the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC).

Officials estimate the institutional value of the confiscated contraband was $712,400, with the searches necessitating that one unit of the facility be locked down so the illegal items could be ferreted out.

“The search was ordered to ensure the safety and security of the institution, its staff and inmates. Normal operations have now resumed,” CSC reports.

CSC employs several tools to help prevent drugs from entering its institutions, such as ion scanners and drug-detector dogs to search buildings, personal property, inmates and visitors. It has also established a telephone tip line for all federal institutions.

A number of other correctional facilities across the country have also seen contraband recovered or intercepted in recent years.

These include the recovery of two packages containing 466 grams of tobacco, 369 grams of cannabis, 53 grams of shatter, drug paraphernalia and cellphones and accessories believed to have been dropped from a drone onto the property of the Collins Bay Institution near Kingston, Ont. in March 2022.

In November 2021, a man and a teen were charged after packages were found containing contraband on the grounds of the Beaver Creek Correctional Institution in Gravenhurst, Ont. Officials at Beaver Creek Correctional Institution seized $88,000 worth of contraband.

And in the fall of 2020, cannabis and other contraband with an institutional value topping $211,000 was seized over three days at the maximum-security facility, Donnacona Institution.

Housing about 200 inmates, visitors to the maximum-security Edmonton Institution must pass through a metal detector where a search of person or personal belongings may occur.

In late January, the Edmonton Journal reported correctional officers there had fired live rounds to break up fights between inmates twice in just two weeks.