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By Mike Vanden Bosch

Prison investigation

Agassiz prison undergoes lockdown

Mar 25, 2025 | 8:29 AM

AGASSIZ — Mountain Institution in Agassiz has undergone a lockdown since Friday, Correctional Service Canada announced Monday.

According to a statement, the lockdown was implemented to enable staff members to conduct what correctional authorities call an exceptional search, which was ordered to ensure the safety and security of the institution, its staff, and inmates.

Visits have been suspended until the search is completed. Normal operations will resume as soon as it is considered safe to do so.

Just last month, CSC said vigilant staff members played a key role in intercepting and ultimately seizing nearly $150,000 in contraband like meth and illicit substances at Mountain.

According to a statement from federal correctional authorities, a package containing contraband and other unauthorized objects was confiscated on Saturday, February 15 at Mountain Institution, a medium-security prison west of Agassiz.

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The contraband seized consisted of SD card readers, cell phones and charging cables, nicotine patches, cannabis concentrate and methamphetamine. The total estimated institutional value of these confiscated goods is $149,370. The Agassiz RCMP Detachment and the institution itself investigated.

In October 2024, warden Jordan Quaroni assumed command of Mountain Institution during what CSC called an Affirmation of Command ceremony to install new wardens at five Fraser Valley correctional facilities.