Fruit used to make alcohol in prison cells, drugs, saws, and punches: what is being seized in prisons?

BarcelonaSome objects and substances are prohibited in prison, but this doesn't mean they're not allowed in. Prison officials make hundreds of seizures each year when they discover, for example, an inmate with a cell phone, drugs, or some type of weapon. Over the past seven years, drug seizures have increased by 76%, according to data obtained by ARA through a transparency request, which the Department of Justice has declined to comment on. Seizures of dangerous objects have also nearly doubled.

The transparency portal data refers to the number of seizures made by prison officials, not the number of objects or drugs seized. Regarding drugs, from 1,436 seizures in 2018, the number has increased to 2,532 last year. The lowest number of cases occurred during the pandemic, and prison sources attribute this to the fact that during the lockdown, visits were restricted and it was more difficult for drugs to reach the prison. In prisons, restrictions to prevent infection were extended until early 2022.

This set of seizures includes drugs of various types. The Justice Department's data does not specify the substance, but rather the format or presentation of the drug: in a wrapper, a tablet, a liquid, or a powder. Another category refers to "vegetal substance," meaning cannabis derivatives such as marijuana and hashish. The reason for this classification, according to prison sources, is that officers cannot handle what they seize, and it is the Mossos d'Esquadra (Mossos d'Esquadra) who subsequently analyze the substances to determine what drug they are.

With slight changes over the years, the most frequently seized drug from 2018 to 2024 is that which officials label as a plant substance. In total, this accounted for almost 70% of drug seizures in prisons during these seven years. The second most common category is wrappers or papers, followed by tablets or pills and powders.

Alcohol made from fermented fruit

Another prohibited product in the prison is alcoholic beverages, but officials detect very few bottles that manage to enter from outside. chicha and accounts for more than 96% of the alcoholic beverages seized in prisons. "They fill jugs with fruit and sugar and let it ferment," explains a prison worker who has seized chicha several times. "They wrap him tightly in several layers of plastic or bags, since he smells bad and it can be quickly detected if the smell escapes. If they do it in the cell, it's very easy to detect," this worker adds.

The seizure records of chicha are much higher than those of packaged alcohol, and interventions carried out in prisons have doubled in recent years, although with A drop last year. While alcoholic beverages were seized 57 times in 2018 and 84 times in 2019, in 2022 there were 113, in 2023 they peaked at 162, and last year there were 111.. Unlike what happened with drugs, the lockdown led to an increase in inmates' own use of this alcohol. During the pandemic, prisons also had to withdraw hydroalcoholic ice after Brians 1 inmates were caught mixing it with soda to make cocktails.

Dangerous objects

Among dangerous objects or objects that can be used as weapons, the vast majority of seizures are sharp or pointed objects. Typically, these aren't knives or tools, but rather other objects that an inmate has manipulated to become sharp or pointed, prison sources say. These two categories account for more than 90% of the dangerous objects seized, with blunt objects taking third place. Seizures of dangerous objects have nearly doubled between 2018 and 2023, with a slight decrease last year.

Among the other dangerous objects that officers have found on inmates are saws, with thirteen seizures in seven years. Transparency data indicates only one seizure of a firearm: it was made on July 28, 2022, at the entrance to Lledoners prison.

Mobile phones

Another highly prized item in prisons, but one that is prohibited, is the cell phone. The data this newspaper has had access to only covers the last three years of cell phone seizures, despite the fact that the request dated back to 2018 and that this history does apply to other objects and substances. In recent years, according to transparency, 796 cell phone seizures have been made in 2022, 1,238 in 2023, and 1,201 last year.

However, in a parliamentary response to which ARA has had access, the Minister of Justice, Ramon Espadaler, provided data in March that goes back to 2018, but in more recent years indicated lower figures than the data on the transparency portal. According to the data provided by Espadaler, mobile phone seizures have more than doubled from 2018 (358) to 2024 (859).

Cash

Cash seizures are symbolic, To the point that in 2018 and 2019 there are only two, and the highest figure, from 2024, is eight. "The money inside is useless, unless they save it to give to their family when they visit," explain prison sources. In prison, inmates have a savings account, which is replenished with their salary if they work there or with money sent to them by their family. For security reasons, they have a maximum of 100 euros available each week to spend, and they can use it for expenses at the center, such as the commissary.