Meth, steroids and sparkly iPhone found in grass-disguised package dropped in B.C. prison yard

A large package of illegal drugs and contraband camouflaged with glued-on grass clippings has been intercepted by officers at a prison in Mission, B.C., according to Correctional Services Canada (CSC).

Inside was 300 grams of suspected methamphetamine, bottles of suspected steroids and other unidentified pills, razor blades and an iPhone in a sparkly case. Guards found the package during morning rounds on April 8.

CSC puts the estimated value of the package contents inside the prison, where prices are much higher than on the outside, at $165,000.

Mission RCMP have opened an investigation. In a news release, Mounties say the package was possibly flown by drone over the fence of Mission Institution at night and dropped into the prison yard.

“The package was cleverly disguised by attaching real cut grass around the entire exterior of a bubble-mailer, helping it to seamlessly blend in with the grass inside the fenceline of the institution,” reads the release.

John Randle, Pacific regional president with the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, says drone drops into B.C.’s nine federal institutions happen daily and the level of sophistication is only growing.

“The grass [camouflage], we’re seeing that regularly,” he said. “They’ll even make some of [the packages] look like garbage, like a chip bag laying on the ground that an inmate had dropped … They’ll actually stuff the drugs inside a dead pigeon or dead crow and drop that,” he said.

According to Randle, it’s a constant struggle for prisons and guards to keep up with advancing drone technology, which make the $132 million in CSC budget cuts “concerning.”

“They’re looking at cutting back the number of corrections officers we have on the ground at any one time, which is going to create an even larger problem for us responding to the drone drops,” he said.