Image: Canadian Press / A temporary lockdown that was instituted at a prison west of Agassiz is over, but correctional staff there have confiscated contraband that included stabbing weapons and other prohibited items. According to a news release from Correctional Service Canada, Mountain Institution has resumed normal operations and visits following a lockdown and exceptional search last week.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Lockdown at Agassiz prison

Lockdown over at Agassiz prison, but staff seize stabbing weapons, cocaine and lots more

Nov 1, 2023 | 12:08 PM

AGASSIZ — A temporary lockdown that was instituted at a prison west of Agassiz is over, but correctional staff there have confiscated contraband that included stabbing weapons and other prohibited items.

According to a news release from Correctional Service Canada, Mountain Institution has resumed normal operations and visits following a lockdown and exceptional search last week.

During the exceptional search, contraband and unauthorized items were found. The contraband and unauthorized items seized included two cell phones and accessories, two stabbing weapons, tattoo paraphernalia, 30 grams of hashish, 10 grams of cocaine, 5 grams of crystal methamphetamine, among other drugs and unknown substances.

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is strengthening measures to prevent the entry of contraband into its institutions in order to ensure a safe and secure environment for everyone. CSC also works in partnership with the police to take action against those who attempt to have contraband brought into correctional institutions.

It’s been a tumultuous week at Mountain Institution. The union representing prison officers says its members are concerned about the safety of staff and inmates over a needle exchange program proposed by the Correctional Service of Canada after an inmate in B.C. died of a fentanyl overdose. A lockdown was implemented the same day the inmate died at the prison west of Agassiz.

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John Randle, Union of Canadian Correctional Officers regional president, says it is now calling for overdose prevention sites over such needle exchange programs.

The Correctional Service says in a statement that there are needle exchange programs in 10 Canadian prisons and it is committed to implementing the program across the country.

But, the service didn’t reply to a request for comment on a news release it issued Friday that said Kelly Michael Richet, an inmate from Mountain Institution in Agassiz, died Tuesday while in custody.

All cases involving the death of an inmate triggers a review by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). CSC policy requires that the police and the coroner be notified.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

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Lockdown over at Agassiz prison, but staff seize stabbing weapons, cocaine and lots more

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