Union sounds alarm as Agassiz prison officers seize $100k worth of drugs

Correctional officers at the Mountain Institution in Agassiz say they seized “well over” $100,000 worth of drugs in the prison Wednesday night, adding to growing concerns in the facility.

The union representing correctional officers describes the seizure as “alarming,” noting close to 200 grams of crystal meth and other unknown drugs were found. However, it’s not just this one incident that has the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO) sounding the alarm.

It claims management at the Agassiz facility “is still refusing to conduct a complete and thorough search of the medium security prison,” despite several other happenings at the facility, including inmates blatantly in possession of cellphones.

They also include what the UCCO describes as “14 days of hell” for members, during which “numerous inmates” reportedly overdosed — two of them fatally, and two correctional officers went into “medical distress from fentanyl contamination.”

Union cites Prison Needle Exchange Program concerns

According to the union, the incidents followed the expansion of the Correctional Service of Canada’s (CSC) Prison Needle Exchange Program (PNEP).

The UCCO’s regional president says the focus should be on “keeping drugs out of federal prisons, not giving inmates the tools to fuel their addictions while incarcerated.”

“We are warning the public that if CSC continues rolling out the PNEP, more inmates will eventually be released in the community more addicted than before or may die from overdose,” said John Randle.

“The conclusions of the BC Chief Coroner were clear: consuming alone is a significant risk factor. This is exactly the downfall of the Prison Needle Exchange. A much safer and more effective harm reduction model is available. Overdose Prevention… is a tool available to CSC which will focuses (sic) on rehabilitation of the inmates and not put needles in the hands of inmates. CSC needs to fulfill their mandate and stop passing the addiction issue back to the community.”

Randle says every time an inmate overdoses, they are taken to hospital off the premises, which he says puts “unnecessary pressure on an already extremely strained provincial healthcare system.”

He adds correctional officers already work in a “very challenging and dangerous” environment, and that the addition of drugs leaves them “concerned the violence and death toll will continue to rise.”

The CSC says its Prisoner Needle Exchange Program is aimed at helping prevent the sharing of needles in prisons and the spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS. It notes the program is “based on comprehensive and informed evidence,” and adds the program, alongside other harm-reduction strategies, “helps ensure that inmates reintegrating into the community can do so in a healthy and safe manner.”

CityNews has reached out to the Correctional Service of Canada for comment.