Schkopau/Raßnitz (dpa/sa) - In part of the juvenile institution in Raßnitz in the Saale district, the detention cells of some offenders have been checked. A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said on Tuesday that the security and auditing service (BSRD) was deployed in prisons in Saxony-Anhalt. The aim is to find prohibited objects such as weapons or storage media as well as alcohol and drugs. The BSRD takes on such large-scale campaigns for Saxony-Anhalt.
A total of 19 cells belonging to 21 prisoners were searched on Tuesday. Among other things, a tiny USB stick was found. Such storage media are generally forbidden in prisons. It often contains music that "would certainly also be of interest to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution," it said. Pornographic material is also often discovered on it. In addition, a so-called "wine approach" was discovered. Because the facility has a strict no-alcohol policy, some inmates make their own alcohol, the head of the unit said.
Mobile phone and drug smuggling as well as physical injuries are still a problem in Saxony-Anhalt's prisons - even if the cases have decreased in all areas. Last year, 74 mobile phones were seized, as the Ministry of Justice in Magdeburg recently announced. In the previous year there were 96 mobile phones.
In addition, drugs were seized in 73 cases in 2021. The main drugs involved were cannabis and amphetamines. According to the information, the total amount is 385 grams. The amount seized is thus significantly lower than in the previous year (702 grams).
