The number of prisoners hospitalised following suspected drug overdoses in Portlaoise Prison has risen to at least 11, including three who are in a critical condition.
The group is being treated at Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise, beside the prison in the Co Laois town.
All the affected prisoners were being housed in the prison’s C Wing, which is the State’s only maximum security facility.
Sources said a quantity of white powder, the substance the prisoners are believed to have consumed, had been found and sent for analysis. While the results of those tests were awaited before the substance could be confirmed, it is suspected it was a potent synthetic drug.
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It was not immediately clear on Wednesday morning exactly how many prisoners have been hospitalised. The Irish Prison Service (IPS) said 11 prisoners are being treated, including three who are in the Intensive Care Unit. This is up from an initial figure of eight on Tuesday afternoon.
It is understood at least one of the prisoners is in a life-threatening condition.
[ Prison overcrowding making drug problem worse, warns Irish Penal Reform TrustOpens in new window ]
The Prison Officers Association (POA) said its information is there are 12 inmates in hospital. It added this figure could fluctuate throughout the day if people are discharged.
In a statement, the POA said it is “is deeply concerned that the illegal smuggling of drugs into our prisons had led to the serious illness of twelve prisoners at Portlaoise Prison, all of whom have been hospitalised.”
“Over the years and at several annual conferences we have raised the issue of overcrowding and illegal smuggling of drugs into our prisons. Despite the best efforts of our members on the ground no significant action has been taken by the authorities to address the drugs issue in our prisons,” said deputy general secretary Gabriel Keaveny.
The POA said the overdoses are the “inevitable consequence of inaction over the years” from Government and prison authorities. It said drones are being used “almost daily’ to deliver drugs, mobile phones and weapons to prisons.
The incident is being treated as a major event by the Irish Prison Service and appears to be the latest in a number of such cases in which drug users have overdosed, some fatally, after consuming lethally potent synthetic drugs from the same batch.
The increasing popularity of synthetic drugs among recreational and acute drug users is of particular concern for prisons management.
Often when drugs are smuggled into prisons they are consumed very quickly by a large group of prisoners, meaning very potent, or laced, batches can result in multiple overdoses immediately. The physical quantity of synthetic drugs users consume is also much smaller than other drug types, meaning batches of synthetic drugs are much easier to conceal for smuggling into jails.
One of the prisoners affected is serving a life sentence for a gangland killing that claimed the life of a man heavily involved in the importation of drugs into the Republic on behalf of Dublin crime gangs.
It appears the prisoners believed the drug they were consuming was spice, a synthetic cannabinoid. However, there have been a number of multiple overdose cases in recent years, resulting in HSE and Garda warnings to drug users, around consuming drugs for fear they may contain nitazene-type synthetic opioids.
The Irish Prison Service last month issued an urgent alert after use of nitazene caused a fatal overdose at a prison. The service said at the time the substance consumed was confirmed as being the potent synthetic opioid following analysis conducted by the HSE National Drug Treatment Centre Laboratory. Nitazene can be found in pills or powder. It is often seen in yellow tablet form.
Speaking at a media briefing on recent cocaine seizures in Dublin, a senior garda said An Garda Síochána is working closely with the Irish Prison Service on tacking drug problems in prisons.
“An Garda Síochána always assists the Irish Prison Service. There are and have been very high level meetings that have been taking place over a protracted period in relation to the difficulties that are being experienced,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Séamus Boland, Garda National Drug and Organised Crime Bureau.
“The issues in Portlaoise prison yesterday feed back into the dangers of the synthetic opioids,” he said, adding that they “have been causing similar problems all across Ireland since late last November.
“I make that comment in advance of knowing what is the exact cause of that [incident in Portlaoise], but I think an informed opinion would say that it’s probably going to turn out to be something like a synthetic. But An Garda Síochána is working, has been working, and continues to work very close with the Irish prison services.”
In reply to queries on Tuesday, the Irish Prison Service said it was working closely with the HSE as it attempted to respond to a number of overdose presentations in custody, though it did not reference Portlaoise Prison specifically.
“The prison service has secured extra naloxone kits in the event of clinical intervention,” the reply added. “Extra vigilance is being taken across the prison estate and the Irish Prison Service has commenced an information campaign for prisoners around the dangers of consuming contraband.
“The Irish Prison Service is committed to preventing the access of contraband including drugs into prisons and continues to be a high priority for the Irish Prison Service. The Irish Prison Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support our efforts to keep contraband out of prisons.”
Prison staff had increased the use of random and intelligence-led cell searches on a daily basis while its canine unit was carrying out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons. The prison service said it was also working with gardaí to prevent drugs entering jails.
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