From shivs to a broken drone, here's a list of contraband recently seized from a maximum-security prison in B.C.

Drone flying through field in undated photo. (JESHOOTS/Pexels)

VANCOUVER -

Corrections officials released a list Friday of a variety of contraband and unauthorized items they say were seized from a maximum-security prison in B.C. recently.

Among the items uncovered at Kent Institution, located in Agassiz, are what Correctional Service Canada described as "stabbing weapons," as well as the remnants of at least one broken drone.

Some of the contents included in a list released Friday have yet to be determined, following an analysis from the RCMP, but of those items known, the estimated value inside the prison is $48,000.

Most of the items were found in searches this month.

Specific details of how the items were located were not provided, but CSC said its staff use tools including ion scanners and drug-detecting dogs in their searches of institutions, inmates and visitors.

According to CSC, its officers found:

• Unidentified contents, sent to RCMP for identification, on May 19;
• One ounce of TCH butter, a bail of tobacco, four USB readers, four Chatr SIM cards and four micro SIM cards on June 27;
• Fifty-two nicotine patches and 3.5 grams of marijuana on July 16;
• Two cellphones, two "stabbing weapons," 30 grams of crystal methamphetamine (meth), and "remnants of an unmanned air vehicle" on July 17;
• Remnants of drone on July 20;
• One bale of tobacco, two grams of marijuana, 15 grams of crystal meth, 27.9 grams of shatter, two micro SD charges and 15 grams of "unidentified powder" on July 22; and
• Ten grams of cocaine, 41 grams of crystal meth and four packages of "butter product" on July 27.

The discovery of these items is not particularly unusual.

CSC issued a news release in July 2020 saying someone had been arrested after trying to smuggle drugs and SIM cards into Kent institution in a backpack. 

Five "handmade stabbing weapons," often referred to as shivs, were seized last August during a sweep of the federal prison. 

Each time an incident was reported publicly, CSC said it was "heightening measures" to stop contraband from entering Canadian prisons.

An update in the spring of 2019 came with the same promise of heightened measures, following the seizure of more than $86,000 worth of contraband, including a drone. 

Friday's message too came with an assurance that CSC was taking steps to prevent these items from being smuggled in. The paragraph in the latest news release was identical to the phrasing used in a news release in 2019.

It appears that despite the CSC's "heightening measures," and despite a telephone tip line for the public to report smuggling efforts, these unauthorized items are still reaching Canadian inmates.