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Act­ing Pris­ons Com­mis­sion­er Hay­den Forde has ad­mit­ted it is “very alarm­ing and con­cern­ing” that prison of­fi­cers con­tin­ue to en­gage in the smug­gling of con­tra­band in­to the na­tion’s pris­ons.

This, de­spite reg­u­lar search­es and re­peat­ed warn­ings by both prison and po­lice of­fi­cials that any­one caught would face the full brunt of the law.

Re­spond­ing to ques­tions by Guardian Me­dia fol­low­ing the ar­rest of a 31-year-old prison of­fi­cer yes­ter­day morn­ing dur­ing a co­or­di­nat­ed mul­ti-agency raid at the Max­i­mum Se­cu­ri­ty Prison (MSP) in Arou­ca, Forde re­in­forced his ear­ly promise to “Lock them up with their friends.”