B.C. prison guards seize package containing $575K in meth, electronics

The Mission Correctional Institution in Mission, B.C. is pictured Tuesday, April 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Prison officials in British Columbia say guards at a medium-security prison in the Fraser Valley seized a package containing hundreds of grams of methamphetamine and other contraband over the weekend.

The Correctional Service of Canada estimates the institutional value of the seized items at $575,500, saying the package contained 816 grams of crystal methamphetamine, four digital memory cards, two charging cables and one charging block.

The package was found at Mission Institution on Oct. 5, corrections officials announced in a statement Wednesday.

Local police have been contacted about the discovery and prison officials are investigating, according to the correctional service.

The federal agency says the institutional value of contraband seized in prisons is determined by several factors and the values can differ from one institution to another. That said, the value of illegal items seized inside prisons is always higher than their value in the outside community.

"The institutional monetary value of these items is based on multiple factors but is primarily determined through intelligence information collected at the site once the items are seized," Correctional Service of Canada spokesperson Lucinda Fraser said in an emailed statement to CTV News earlier this year.

"Each institution's values will vary, as they depend on the regional or local jurisdiction's trends, including drug prices (if drugs were seized), as well as an institution's security level," Fraser added. "This means that values can change on a regular basis."

The agency says it uses a variety of tools to prevent drugs from being smuggled into its prisons, including ion scanners and drug-detecting dogs to search buildings, personal property, inmates, and visitors.

The correctional service says it is "heightening measures to prevent contraband from entering its institutions" and is working with police to crack down on those who attempt to smuggle contraband into prisons.

Corrections officials maintain a telephone tip line for the public to report incidents of smuggling, drug use or other security concerns at all federal prisons. Tipsters can call the anonymous line toll-free at 1-866-780-3784.