Prison raid nets cannabis

Inmates looking forward to cannabis for Christmas will have to rethink their wishlist after a raid on cars and bags of visitors to Manawatu Prison at the weekend.

Corrections Department staff, police and drug dogs searched about 50 visitors at a checkpoint outside the prison at the weekend, uncovering a large quantity of the drug.

"We got a huge cannabis head. We even had a case where someone wrapped cannabis and taped it on to a green page of a magazine so that you nearly missed it when flipping through," Corrections officer Tracey Sinclair said.

Pipes and drinking bottles used for smoking drugs, were also confiscated.

After the search, prison staff raided the cells of the 281 prisoners and found more improvised smoking devices.

- NZPA