Bermuda's prison officers have taken a strong stand against drugs in local prisons following allegations some of their colleagues may be involved in smuggling activities.

Prison Officers' Association (POA) chairman Michael Tuzo said officers want to see the problem of drugs in prisons stamped out and will take a hard-line with any members found to be involved in the drug trade.

Mr. Tuzo spoke out following revelations in The Royal Gazette this week that tens of thousands of dollars worth of illegal substances have been pouring into prisons weekly - and much is being supplied by prison guards.

"We in no way condone those actions if they are occurring," Mr. Tuzo said on behalf of the association.

He said internal mechanisms are in place to deal with prison officers who are found to have traces of drug residue on their clothing or bodies - although he declined to publicly state what those mechanisms were.

And those officers that are caught couriering drugs into prisons will be prosecuted as well as sacked, he added.

The Royal Gazette reported yesterday that a 1997 report into drugs in the prisons is believed to have named over a dozen officers as being involved in bringing drugs to prisoners.

Mr. Tuzo said he had direct knowledge of that report.

"If there was a report and it identified people, surely those people should have been dealt with," he said.

"If they are not dealt with by authorities the entire prison officers' service is cast into disrepute.

"We should not be painting the whole service with a broad brush," Mr. Tuzo said.

The POA chairman also took issue with the quantities of drugs The Royal Gazette was told were penetrating security at Westgate and Prison Farm.

"I would take issue with tens of thousands worth (of drugs) each week," Mr. Tuzo said.

"There are drugs getting in, I don't deny that, but I think that figure is grossly exaggerated."

Prison officers have fully supported drug interdiction improvements over the years, he added, and never mounted any resistance to being tested for drugs because it was never mentioned to them.

The Royal Gazette was told that testing prison officers was one of the recommendations to surface from the 1997 report but its implementation was stalled due to resistance from prison management.

"Testing of prison staff was never presented to us," Mr. Tuzo said.

"We want to rid prisons of drugs 100 percent if we can."

With regard to reports tainted drugs are circulating in the prisons - which arose after four inmates were hospitalised last weekend and an inmate's death believed to be drug-related last month - Mr. Tuzo said officers considered any drugs behind prison walls a problem.

And officers also take issue with Government's position - as expressed by Labour and Home Affairs' Minister Terry Lister this week - that work release inmates from the Prison Farm will not be tested for drugs. Work release prisoners will only be ion scanned to ensure they are not bringing drugs into the correctional facility for others, Mr. Lister said Thursday, to avoid punishing men for indulging in drugs when they may have been surrounded by them all day on a worksite.

"Our position is, whether an inmate is on work release or not, if he is involved with drugs, he should be dealt with," Mr. Tuzo said. "Even if someone is surrounded by drugs all day (on work release), it still doesn't give him the right to indulge."