STORMVILLE – An officer inspecting a package mailed to an inmate at the maximum-security Green Haven Correctional Facility discovered a false bottom with five vacuum sealed bags that contained drugs.
The incident was made public by the New York State Corrections Officers PBA, the union representing the officers.
On Friday, January 22, an officer located the mailed package on one of the cell blocks. That false bottom was opened and the officer discovered four vacuum sealed bags that contained a green leafy substance and one bag that had orange strips and an unknown substance in it.
The green leafy substance, which weighed 4.5 ounces, is believed to be marijuana and the orange strips were suboxone. The drugs were seized as evidence.
The package had been mailed to an inmate from an individual in Monticello.
The investigation is continuing.
“The fact that drug seizures of this magnitude have become commonplace in our facilities is absolutely infuriating. I have no idea how our members have managed to maintain such a high level of vigilance throughout this pandemic, but I’m grateful for the efforts, and the public should be as well,” said Chris Moreau, the union’s Mid-Hudson vice president.
“With staffing levels stretched thinner than they’ve ever been, and relentless waves of COVID illnesses and violence against staff, it is time that DOCCS (the State Department of Corrections and Community Service) and the state legislature provide our members with the additional resources to stem the drugs. At the very least, DOCCS needs to implement the Secure Vendor Program immediately or provide additional staff to help stop the level of drugs that are being smuggled into prisons.”