It’s a blistering hot day at Silverwater maximum security jail in Sydney as I watch specialist prison guards file into the basketball court for a surprise cell shakedown.
Contraband is an ongoing challenge in prisons all around the world – with weapons, drugs, alcohol and tiny mobile phones in constant high demand behind bars.
Without intervention, prisoners can leave jail richer than they arrived, but NSW Minister of Corrections Anoulack Chanthivong is cracking down on the black market.
‘If it is there, we will find it,’ Mr Chanthivong tells me. ‘If someone attempts to bring it in, you will be caught.’
The Security Operations Group team is more than 20-strong and an intimidating sight in their uniforms featuring gas grenades strapped to heavily-padded vests.
But despite their looming presence my attention doesn’t break from four particular members of the team.
Dubbed their ‘most valuable asset,’ Sassy, Hank, Chloe and Bruno highly-trained dogs led by SOG’s first ever female manager, Vanessa Allen.
‘The K9 Unit within the SOG plays a crucial role in this effort, enabling us to accurately pinpoint the locations of contraband so it can be detected and removed,’ says Ms Allen.
Silverwater’s Security Operations Group are an intimidating sight as they are pictured marching towards the random cell shake down
Trained sniffer dog Hank is trained to detect lithium and helps uncover mobile phones
The prisoners were not expecting the canine unit search
Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre maximum security correctional facility at Silverwater (pictured) houses dangerous criminals
The convicted murders and rapists quickly complied with instructions
‘They make our job a lot easier. We simply couldn’t do it without them.’
Labrador Sassy is a passive alert drug detection dog, while border collie Hank is a phone detection dog who has been highly trained to sniff out lithium.
Then there are Belgian Malinois Toa and German Shepard Bruno, both multi-purpose dogs, which includes protection skills.
You can be sure their barks are not worse than their bite.
Ms Allen’s team are the first to be sent in to conflict, riots and hostage situations having all worked their way up from other departments to their highly-skilled roles.
Bruno’s lone bark echoes through the hall, alerting the prisoners to their pending arrival, the air thick with anticipation.
The inmates are ordered to march, two by two, towards the yard where a single cell block of 45 men, who had finished working for the day, enjoy the sunshine.
It’s an intimidating sight and their presence is clearly respected as the men immediately face the fence with their hands up.
Sassy is trained in drug detection and gave the cell the once over
Buprenorphine transdermal patches have a high value in jail and are easy to smuggle in because of their size
This makeshift jailhouse knife was made from parts of a window frame
This potentially lethal weapon was found hidden in a bible
Mobile phones are very highly valued on the prison blackmarket
Inmates housed at this facility have have committed various degrees of serious crimes from assault and drug offences to serious sex crimes and murder.
Prescription medicine buprenorphine, known as ‘bupe’, is currently the biggest contraband issue facing prisons across Australia.
Used for pain management and for opioid addictions like heroin, it’s a low cost $5 patch but can be worth up to $1000 a strip to desperate prisoners if supplies are low.
Intelligence officer Mandeep Singh says bupe could flood the prison black market because of its strong effects and how easy it is to conceal.
‘Every day we are monitoring activity. Listening to phone calls, checking incoming and outgoing mail, tip-offs and trying to intercept anything that may be a threat.
‘If prisoners are caught with contraband, we work out where it came from, how they got it.’
Prisoners in the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater all have access to iPads and are allocated an hour a day of calls for their mental wellbeing.
But illicit mobile phones are still the hot commodity.
Previous contraband found at the prison
‘Some prisoners have AVO’s and banned from contacting people,’ explains Immediate Action Team Correctional Officer, Patrick Boyd.
‘And others use them to organise their crime. Phones are getting really small these days and becoming harder to find.’
Sassy stops, she has found her mark and is rewarded for her ‘good job’ before two men are pulled out of the line-up, hands quickly pulled behind their backs they are marched to their cells for a ‘shake down.’
The small room is clean and tidy with shop quantities of tinned tuna, Powerade and popcorn neatly stacked in the corner.
‘Food is a valuable commodity in jail,’ explains one officer. ‘They can work and earn money to buy it or family can put money on their account.’
The dogs sweep the room in seconds but give no indication that anything is untoward. The prisoner is returned to the yard.
But while no contraband was found today, these impromptu searches are invaluable for keeping inmates in line.
‘The last few years we have seen an increase in drugs and impressive, but dangerous weapons,’ says officer Boyd.
‘We have found weapons made with part of a window frame, a sandwich maker, razor blades and even a melted toothbrush.
‘It is problematic because prisoners start to rack up debts – and everything can be used as currency in jail.’
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