The amount of prisoners being caught with drugs behind bars in the North East is at a record high.
New figures reveal the shocking rates at which inmates are are being found with contraband, including mobile phones and weapons.
Some more resourceful lags have even been caught with distilling equipment to make bootleg booze.
Data released by the Ministry of Justice shows there have been 4,402 incidents in our region in the 12 months up to March 2019.
The figures are recorded for six facilities: Deerbolt, Durham, Frankland, Holme House, Low Newton and Northumberland.
Almost half of them (1,966) related specifically to drugs - the highest number the North East has seen.
The second most confiscated item was weapons, a steep rise from 476 the previous year to 669.
Mobile phones were also commonly found by guards - 568 up from 385 the previous year - along with SIM cards (232 up from 158)
Cases of alcohol smuggling were up from 242 to 294, as were cases of tobacco smuggling (198 up from 97).
On eight occasions, prisoners were caught with distilling equipment used to make crude alcohol inside.
An HM Prison and Probation Services spokesperson said: “In September 2016, HMPPS became the first prison service in the world to introduce innovative mandatory drug tests for psychoactive substances.
“We have made it a criminal offence to possess psychoactive substances in prison and trained more than 300 sniffer dogs specifically to detect these drugs.
“We already use body searches and metal-detecting technology in every prison across the estate and we are examining the effectiveness of body scanners and other technology.”
A spokesperson for HMP Northumberland said: "We have robust policies and procedures in place to prevent and deter the introduction of illicit items into the prison.
"This is a challenge that HMP Northumberland, like other prisons, faces but one that will always be a key priority.
"This is reflected in the creation of key managerial positions responsible to the Director for delivery of our Drug Strategy and for Violence Reduction.
"In practical terms, we have introduced drug detection technology to support the great work being carried out by our drug detection dog and we continue to work very closely with law enforcement partners to identify, catch and prosecute those involved in the drugs trade.”
The North East is by no means the only part of the country to see a rise in the amount of contraband caught on inmates.
The figures show that the smuggling of drugs, alcohol, mobiles, SIM cards, weapons and distilling equipment were all at record highs up to March.
