Behind bars, mobile phones abound in prison contraband
Mobile phones and contraband continue to plague Westgate Correctional Facility, including in maximum security cells, documents detailing seizures at the facility show.
Other common unauthorised items include jars of alcoholic “brew” made from fermented juice and weapons such as “one shank disguised in a ballpoint pen housing” that resulted in an inmate being hit with loss of privilege for three months in May 2024 in a ruling by the Treatment of Offenders Board.
Cannabis and tobacco also continue to be smuggled into the prison.
However, in records spanning April 2024 through to November last year, phones and their paraphernalia surface again and again.
Timothy Seon, the Prison Officers Association chairman, acknowledged last week that the struggle against phone smuggling was nothing new.
After 77 phones were taken from Westgate in 2012, the Government of the day vowed to get tough.
Mr Seon emphasised that phones in the hands of incarcerated criminals, beyond allowing them to conspire with associates on the outside, also pose a threat to prison officers.
He said: “Not only is there the intimidation factor — it could be a matter of life or death.
“We have had individuals followed home because a call was made from jail. They follow you home; now they know where you stay, what vehicle you drive.”
The POA chairman added: “We can infer crimes are becoming much more violent.
“You know in other jurisdictions there have been officers killed. I wouldn’t say we are too far from that.”
However, Mr Seon noted that mobile phones could prove a double-edged sword for inmates who can get them.
Using the devices on the inside runs more than the risk of being caught because of the penalties entailed.
The most recent record in the series, provided to the The Royal Gazette in response to a public access to information request, showed a Westgate inmate lost privileges for three months from last November 5 for getting caught with two mobile phones.
On the same date, a prison farm inmate incurred the same penalty after they were found in possession of a phone.
On November 20, an inmate “was observed via CCTV footage to push a broken piece of tile containing a SIM card under a remand entrance door with intended delivery and collection for the maximum security housing unit”. The punishment: two days’ loss of privileges.
The Ministry of Justice acknowledged “contraband within any correctional facility is a serious concern, both for the safety of officers and the integrity of the institution”.
“Items such as improvised weapons, home-brew alcohol and mobile phones present clear risks in a custodial environment.”
The ministry said last week that correctional systems across the region and internationally continued to face “increasingly sophisticated methods of smuggling prohibited items into secure facilities”.
“These methods can include concealment during visits, attempts to compromise individuals, perimeter breaches and the misuse of technology. The evolving nature of these tactics requires constant adaptation and strengthening of security measures.
“At Westgate Correctional Facility and across the Department of Corrections, officers conduct routine and targeted searches, perimeter checks and monitoring procedures designed to intercept contraband.
“Seizures, while concerning, also demonstrate that detection systems are functioning and that prohibited items are being identified and removed before they can cause greater harm.
“Concerns raised by corrections officers regarding staffing levels, safety and working conditions are acknowledged.
“Over the past year, additional funding has been allocated to strengthen operations, recruitment efforts have advanced and occupational specialists have been engaged to support officer welfare and workplace safety improvements.
“The recently completed International Detention Standards Review — conducted by an independent peer-review panel of senior corrections leaders from the United Kingdom, Cayman Islands and Turks & Caicos — included a thorough assessment of security protocols, staffing resilience and institutional safeguards.
“The panel’s findings will be released publicly in the coming weeks. The Government is committed to implementing the necessary actions arising from that review.
“The recommendations form part of a comprehensive long-term improvement plan to provide enhanced support for officers.
“Crucial items in that plan have already been initiated, including implementing the recommendations made by the UK Ministry of Justice’s Head of Locking who visited the facilities this past August to review, support and advise on locking, training and security.
“The detention standards review provided additional recommendations, which are being actioned in order of priority.
“Alongside existing operational measures, significant infrastructure works are actively progressing at Westgate Correctional Facility to strengthen safety, functionality and long-term resilience.
“Roof repairs are approximately 70 per cent complete, with remaining works expected within the coming weeks, weather permitting.
“Additionally, critical sewage station upgrades are scheduled to commence shortly, including replacement of the sewage grinder, lift pumps and check valves, with all required components now on the island and installation scheduling being finalised.
“Professional mechanical engineering services have commenced to design new potable water piping infrastructure and a new boiler plant, supporting long-term reliability of essential systems within the facility.
“Progress has also been made in restoring cell capacity within maximum security.
“Replacement parts for combination units have arrived, enabling cells to be returned to service last week, with further restoration works continuing based on operational priorities.
“A comprehensive condition survey for correctional services has also reached a key milestone, with competitive bids received from local contractors partnering with international specialists to deliver the required technical expertise required under the project scope.
“This broader programme is intended to guide structured, long-term capital improvements across the corrections estate.”
Kim Wilkerson, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, added: “Corrections officers report for duty knowing the environment is demanding and, at times, unpredictable.
“They deserve to feel safe and properly supported while doing that work. Contraband is a global issue that no jurisdiction has eliminated entirely, but that does not lessen its seriousness here.
“The findings of the recent international review will guide decisive improvements and those improvements are focused on making conditions safer, stronger and more sustainable for the officers who serve and for the security of our community.
“We have heard their concerns about officer shortage and we are actively and critically examining the existing recruitment process to ascertain how it can be made more efficient to implement crucial change and return the Department of Corrections to a fully staffed institution.”
Mr Seon told the Gazette that the prevalence of bootleg phones in the records highlighted the difficulties of keeping them out of prisons but said it would be incorrect to lay the blame simply on crooked officers.
He said that while suspicion often falls on officers, “in recent cases there have been service providers that have been found bringing in contraband”.
The POA chairman also cited cracks in security, which he blamed partly on a shortage of staff.
“There will be gaps,” Mr Seon said. “Perimeter walls can be breached. In the past, not in the last 18 months, there have been people coming up to the perimeter on jet skis and throwing contraband over.”
He said the former jail next door, the old Casemates, offered a “bird’s-eye view” into Westgate where packages could be launched. Prisoners can improvise “fishing” lines to retrieve them.
Phones, normally thrown over in padding such as a sock, become “a high-value commodity” once inside.
Drones have also featured. Several cases in 2019 prompted heightened security efforts to keep the devices out of prison airspace — although Mr Seon said he had not heard of suspected drone sightings around the prison in more than 18 months.
Records show Westgate was not the only location where phones made it inside.
A prison farm report to the board, from January 2024 to February 2025, showed a search by the canine team recovering “two cellular phones, three charger cords and one charger block” from machines in the compound gymnasium.
Elsewhere, records at the farm facility for eight cases of inmates able to leave for work release — with dates from August 2024 to March 2025 — showed three getting penalised for the same offence: for “returning with contraband after work release”.
Often, contraband turns up neither in the cell nor on the person of a specific inmate.
In a general search of the prison farm compound on June 30, 2025, the canine unit caught tobacco, “three packages of plantlike material” and rolling papers hidden in the light fixture of an empty cell — along with an iPhone, charger and SanDisk flash drive.
On September 25, a mobile phone was found in “the upper bathroom ceiling” at the farm, with the item “handed over to the security team”.
The next day, an inmate’s cell was searched after he was found with a mobile phone. A search of his cell revealed nothing further and he was “secured in the security block for the day”. The report added: “He will be transferred back to Westgate.”
In Westgate prison, which accounts for the majority of records provided, phones crop up regularly among items found secreted in the walls of inmates’ cells or on their person.
Others, discovered outside, could have been launched into the facility.
Last November 12, records showed, contraband discovered on the remand field at Westgate consisted of “various types of plantlike material, a SIM card, brown gum-like substance”.
Ten days later, unauthorised goods picked up in the maximum security unit’s recreational yard included “one plastic twist of plantlike material and one paper twist of gum-like substance and Rizla papers wrapped in tape and foil”.
In some cases, the source of the contraband appeared clear: for March 21, 2024, an inmate was searched “after receiving information about the possibility of contraband exchanged during his visit”.
The inmate’s right shoe yielded a package wrapped in plastic and tape with “a large quantity of tobacco”, several star-shaped pills believed to be the drug MDMA and a “metal shank” disguised as a pen.
Court convictions for smuggling items including mobile phones have also involved prison officers as well as visitors who were caught.
Westgate has had technology capable of jamming mobile phones for more than a decade, although it has occasionally gone offline for improvements.
• To review the records given by the Department of Corrections, see Related Media
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