Fewer females going to prison as drug mule trade declines
November 20, 2005
THE inmate population in Jamaica's sole female prison is dwindling, correctional authorities say, as a result of a steep reduction in drug arrests with fewer women now attempting to smuggle narcotics out of the country.
The Fort Augusta women's facility in St Catherine now has under 200 prisoners, down from 270 at the end of last year.
"What we are seeing is a serious reduction in those persons, both locals and foreigners, committing offences related to drug trafficking," Commissioner of Corrections Major Richard Reese told the Observer.
But the criminal masterminds, he said, have been turning to newer, more creative means of smuggling through the airports, using persons who are seriously ill, and other stigmatised persons.
Reese said law enforcement authorities have had "a 99 per cent success rate in terms of apprehension" of persons trafficking drugs abroad, mostly crack-cocaine carried in their stomachs.
Such persons are referred to as 'drug mules'. The drugs, encased in protective material, are usually ejected by the body through the normal digestive process.
Since the installation of Ionscan machines - an x-ray system capable of detecting ingested drugs - incidents of smuggling through the airports have dropped significantly.
But Reese also attributes the success to 'drug toilets' that have been set up both in Kingston and Montego Bay.
The drug toilets, Major Reese said, are facilities in Kingston and Montego Bay where authorities hold suspects until they pass out the drug from their bodies.
He declined to disclose the exact location of the facilities.
"Once you process a few people," Reese said, "and the word gets out to the criminals", the drug dealers are less inclined to smuggle narcotics using mules.
But they are testing other methods....
Author: Luke Douglas
Source: Jamaica Observer
