Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / PML / It's been a busy year at Kent Institution, the max-security prison west of Agassiz, where multiple physical altercations and contraband seizures continue to pile up.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Kent Institution

Physical altercations and contraband seizures pile up at Kent max-security prison in 2022

Dec 17, 2022 | 1:53 PM

AGASSIZ — There’s not much brotherly love happening behind the walls of Kent Institution, the maximum-security correctional facility just west of Agassiz, these days.

The Correctional Service of Canada reported on December 9 that it has recorded yet another assault of an inmate by another inmate, at least its 13th of the year, in what has been an eventful 2022 at Kent.

While the assaults seem par for the course, perhaps the most violent incidents involved two stabbings that occurred back in April and another in February.

During the attack on April 27, a prisoner was stabbed a reported 40 times by other inmates and taken from Kent by air ambulance. A similar incident occurred on February 5 in which a prisoner was stabbed by another inmate several times and transported by air ambulance to hospital.

Not only have there been over a dozen assaults at the facility this year, but there have been at least eight contraband seizures in just 2022 alone.

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Over the summer, a package containing contraband and unauthorized items with an estimated value of nearly $54,000 was seized on July 6. The contraband and unauthorized items seized included methamphetamine and other drugs, drug paraphernalia, two cell phones, and telecommunication-related items. The total estimated institutional value of this seizure is $53,900.

In June, prison staff intercepted a significant amount of illicit substances. Kent personnel confiscated 36.6 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 1.5 grams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 42 nicotine patches, and four grams of opiates on June 6 and 9. The contraband seizures were valued at $25,540.

A more recent seizure of contraband at Kent involved diligent correctional staff who were instrumental in intercepting a stash of illicit goods intended for its inmates.

The Correctional Service of Canada reported back in October that contraband estimated at $52,640 was seized on October 12 at Kent Institution. The contraband and unauthorized items seized included five cell phones, two chargers, two weapons, THC, and tobacco. The total estimated institutional value of this seizure was $52,640.