PRISON staff were intrigued by the sudden surge in inmates seeking solace at Sunday church services at jails in England and Wales.
Equally puzzling was why it did not appear to matter to offenders whether they attended a Church of England service or a Roman Catholic Mass. It has emerged, however, that it was not spiritual tranquillity that many were searching for during services, but drugs, exchanged during hymns and prayer.
The role that religious services play in the distribution of drugs in jails was disclosed in a study confirming that drug use was “commonplace within prisons”. Some supposedly drug-free wings are awash with illegal drugs.
Staff blamed a shortage of resources allocated to conducting searches for the extent of drug use. Heroin, cannabis, crack cocaine and non-prescribed medications are all in circulation and allow inmates to maintain low-level drug dependency, the study commissioned by the Home Office found.
It discloses extensive drug-dealing in jails, including operations where prisoners use mobile phones smuggled into prisons to set up deals with suppliers in the community.
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Exchanging drugs and moving supplies was considered to be relatively easy by everyone interviewed for the study. Drugs are being swapped in church, the gym, workshops, education classes, during visits and in queues.
The study said: “Prisoners talked about being able to attend both Church of England and Roman Catholic services in order to exchange drugs, or book non-existent visits in order to meet another prisoner.”
It added: “Particular significance was attached to the role played by cleaners, kitchen, hotplate or servery works, laundry workers and listeners [prisoners who offer support to offenders at risk of self-harming]. These prisoners were able to move freely around the establishment and act as runners, conducting transactions at cell doors during lock-up periods, as well as enabling the movement of drugs between wings.”
The report found evidence of organised dealing involving contact with suppliers in the community. Some operations are so sophisticated that the prison drug dealer only accepts payment outside the jail to friends, family, or straight into a bank account.
A security manager at one jail said: “It is organised dealing. The main players stand aloof while holding no drugs, cash or property, while other people are running around and holding drugs in return for their own personal supply.
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“A lot of people see it as petty dealing, because of the amounts involved, but it’s an extension [of] what’s on the street, where there’s a lot of money and organisation. It’s a ready-made market.”
The main routes of entry for drugs were social visits, mail, new prisoners, drugs thrown over the perimeter wall and contact after court appearances. More than half the prison officers and former prisoners questioned said that staff were responsible for smuggling — the fourth most commonly mentioned route.
“Many of the staff who were interviewed acknowledged that such trafficking goes on, and could substantially increase the amount of illegal drugs available in an establishment,” the report said. Drugs are passed during social visits with substances wrapped in clingfilm and sprayed with perfume to avoid detection by sniffer dogs, and then passed while kissing.