KEY POINTS:
Dead birds and bubblewrap are two of the more unusual methods of smuggling drugs in prisons, according to Corrections department national security manager Karen Urwin.
Methamphetamine, known as P, was flying high over prison walls, stuffed inside dead birds thrown from the outside by accomplices of desperate inmates, she told the Press newspaper.
Ms Urwin told the newspaper that another method was to put the drug inside bubblewrap around presents posted to inmates, she said.
"A great number of our prisoners are quite cunning and people underestimate their ingenuity. Some are quite desperate, so will resort to any wacky measures," Ms Urwin said.
Drugs had previously been found stuffed into tennis balls or fruit and thrown into exercise yards.
The main method of smuggling drugs into prison was inside body cavities, but prison officers frequently uncovered other methods.
These included, for those who had lost eyes in fights, stuffing drugs into eye sockets.
Tighter security prompted prisoners to be more devious.
"You can guarantee if one person figures out a way to get drugs in, it will spread like wildfire," she told the Press.
Ms Urwin said that despite the department clamping down on contraband smuggling, it was a battle.
Inmates who tested positive for drugs were put on a special regime that included dressing in an orange all-in-one jumpsuit with a zip that could be opened only by a special key so drugs could not be concealed.
- NZPA
