Cell Phone Detector Dogs

Maryland has three trained dogs that can sniff out phones smuggled into prisons, reports The Washington Post.

Each cell phone has a unique scent signature, according to an officer in a video showing the dogs at work, it's the same thing that makes it possible for a blood hound to track one person.

The first dog to sniff cell phones was called Murphy, he was a 20 month-old English Springer Spaniel in 2006 who had been trained in prisons across the East of England.

Carrier pigeons fly cell phones into jails

A sharp increase in drugs and cellphones found inside a Brazilian prison mystified officials -- until guards spotted some distressed pigeons struggling to stay airborne, writes Reuters.

"Inmates at the prison in Marilia, Sao Paulo state had been training carrier pigeons to smuggle in goods using cell phone sized pouches on their backs, a low-tech but ingenious way of skipping the high-tech security that visitors faced.

... Officials said the pigeons, bred and trained inside the prison, lived on the jail's roof, where prisoners would take their deliveries before smuggling the birds out again through friends and family."

Row over phone call costs in UK jails

UK consumer groups have lodged an official complaint over the high charges prisoners are paying to make phone calls, reports Ananova.

"The "super complaint" to regulator Ofcom says a 30-minute phone call from a prison to a landline costs more than seven times the amount of a call from a public payphone.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "Prisoners staying in touch with their families is known to reduce the risk, both of reoffending on release and of suicide and self-harm in prison, so it is in everyone's interest to enable people to phone home."

How cell phones and drugs reach inmates

Senior Prisons Department officials explained to Pakistan's Daily Time the many ways cell phones were smuggled into jails:

Soap: Many visitors use bars of soap to smuggle small cellphones or drugs.

Homemade food: jail authorities sympathised with prisoners because they could not eat homemade meals, they never checked closely the food that the prisoners’ visitors brought.

Shoes Visitors smuggle in cellphone hiding them in their shoes.

Body cavities: You figure that one out or click here.

Another innovative carrier was reported from a Thai Prison, where a cell phone was smuggled in a dead toad which was thrown against a wall to retrieve it.

But probably the most alarming way for an inmate to obtain a cellphone is bribing a warden to provide one.

Amy Winehouse's husbands phones from jail

According to The Sun, English soul-pop singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse's husband is using a smuggled phone to make illegal calls from jail.

"Junkie Blake Fielder-Civil, 25, is hiding a mobile in his cell while on remand for alleged trial rigging.

Sources claim he has been using it to call and text troubled singer Amy, 24, and music industry associates.

... Fielder-Civil is awaiting trial, with another man, for assaulting barman James King in Hoxton, North London, and then offering him £200,000 ($396.000) to change his story."

Prisons call in body scanner to defeat mobile phone smugglers

The Government is to consider installing electronic body scanners which can detect mobile phones and metal weapons hidden inside people’s bodies into every jail in England and Wales. Times Online reports.

"David Hanson, the Prisons Minister, said today that putting the £6,500 ($12.900) scanner in every jail would help to counter the growing number of mobile phones being smuggled into prisons.

The body orifice security scanner (Boss) is a mobile chair with three sensitive sensors which can detect metal items as small as a pin or paper clip when they are hidden on or inside an individual.

A prisoner sits on the chair and the machine issues a red alert when an object is found within or around the body. Mobile phones are frequently smuggled into jails in body orifices.

... Mr Hanson said that the Boss chair offered a better way of dealing with mobile phones than trying to instal a jamming system as this would also effect the use of mobile phones in nearby houses and on roads in the vicinity."

Warden hangs up on cellphones inside Afghan jail

According to the National Post, the warden of Afghanistan's most notorious prison is cracking down on a dangerous new weapon falling into the hands of inmates: the cellular phone.

Several inmates with political or criminal connections are obtaining cellphones illegally to co-ordinate protests, attacks, or even robberies from inside Pul-e-Charkhi, the prison's recently appointed warden, Cmdr. Haji Dolath, 50, said.

Located on the outskirts of Kabul, off an isolated stretch of dirt road, Pul-e-Charkhi has about 3,000 prisoners who come from all over the country. About half of the prisoners are Taliban, or leaders of criminal gangs.

"As it is the central jail of Afghanistan, prisoners from all parts of the country -- the most dangerous people -- are brought here," Cmdr. Dolath told CanWest News Service in an interview at his office this week. "With the phones they can guide other Taliban members on the outside, and the outside members can give them guidance.

... Controlling the influx of cellphones into the prison is difficult because inmates -- or their families -- are bribing guards to bring them in, Dolath said. One guard described how prisoners were willing to pay as much as five times the price of a $40 phone.

It's a fortune for Afghan prison guards who earn about $50 a month, Cmdr. Dolath said.

... The cellphones are also a major problem inside the prison, as inmates in Pul-e-Charkhi's seven blocks -- one of which is for 90 female prisoners -- can use them to communicate with each other and rally their political contacts. When authorities tried to implement a prison uniform, inmates used their phones to lobby certain Afghan MPs, said deputy minister of justice Mr. Hashimzai.

Uniforms were never introduced."

Prison drug barons thrive on illicit phones

Inmates in the biggest jail in Britain are ordering drugs, continuing to run criminal activities and plotting escapes using mobile phones that are smuggled into the building, according to a watchdog report, writes the Times Online.

"The “apparently limitless” supply of mobile phones in Wandsworth prison is increasing the supply of drugs on the wings as well as “fuelling a whole group of new users”, the report said. Almost 250 mobile phones were found inside Wandsworth, in southwest London, in the first five months of this year, the report from the prison’s Independent Monitoring Board disclosed."

... The report, which covers 2006-07, said. “Mobile phones are used to facilitate the delivery of drugs to prisoners, continue criminal activities from within, pressurize vulnerable prisoners, contact families of prisoners and staff, plan escapes, bullying, intimidation and a host of other unsavoury activities.

The report said that it was only a matter of time before a “very serious incident” took place because of mobile phone use".

Cell phone radio caller shot dead

A former prisoner who went on Irish radio last summer using a mobile phone from his prison cell has been shot dead in Dublin. The BBC reports.

"In May, Daly came to prominence when he called a radio show using a mobile phone from his cell in Portlaoise jail.

The armed robber's comments on one of RTE Radio's most popular shows - Liveline - in connection with an alleged gangland feud prompted a national furore.

... Daly had to be placed under protection after his call prompted a massive search of jails, uncovering a large haul of contraband including mobile phones, plasma televisions and pet budgies. "

More than 1,600 mobile phones seized from prisoners

According to The Belfast Telegraph, more than 1,600 mobile phones have reportedly been seized from prisoners across Ireland over the past year.

"Reports this morning say more than 550 have been taken from inmates at Mountjoy Prison alone."

Inmates smulgging in cell phone stories are common, but this part of the article is more unusual: The crackdown was mounted following the controversy sparked when one inmate rang the Irish radio Joe Duffy show from his cell in Portlaoise earlier this year."

Irish Law Bans Mobile Use by Prisoners

Three men have each been handed down a one-month jail term for the unlawful use of a mobile phone while in prison, reports Belfast Telegraph via Irish Law Bans Mobile Use by Prisoners.

"They are the first to be sentenced for this offence, which was brought in under the Prisons Act 2007 this year.

The legislation was brought in on May 1st, making the possession or use of a phone by inmates a criminal offence."

Inmates use their smuggled cell phones to order feasts

A fun story from the Birhmingham Mail, about inmates using smuggled cell phones at a minimum security facility - not to organize crime on the outside - but to order take out! The prison smells delicious.

"The orders are massive - because the prisoners have got money, every dormitory smells delicious and that just winds up the other prisoners to order food for themselves.

A spokesman for the Prison Service said "prisoners are not permitted to order a takeaway and will be disciplined if they are found doing so."

Inmates Smuggle Cell Phones For More Than Calling

Lieutenant Tim Wamble describes a worst-case scenario for the California Prison system: If prisoners had cell phones "they could organize simultaneous riots in all 33 institutions if they wanted to." cbs13.com reports.

"Apparently they're not having too much trouble getting their hands on them. About 1,000 cell phones have been confiscated at the state's prisons in the past 12 months. Most cell phones apparently come from visitors, but how they get through the metal detector is a mystery.

... "While one obvious advantage of having a cell phone on the inside is being able to make calls yourself, there's another advantage. You could take a cell phone and rent it out to another inmate, for $20 dollars for five minutes.

Holding up a cell phone, Lt. Robin Bond says: "This is getting more lucrative than selling drugs. You can make more and it's not a felony."

Beyond being a money maker, the modern cell phone also poses a major security risk.

"If there were to be some type of escape plot, it could all be done via the internet, via instant messages," Bond said.

Making telephone calls from prison is considered a privilege. Inmates get about 15 minutes of collect calls every three days. All official calls are monitored or recorded. Cell phones are not."

Australia. Prison mobile phone crackdown

Prisoners are facing a crackdown on the use of mobile phones, reports 2GB.

"Existing laws covering ownership or possession of a mobile in a jail will now be extended to use - with a two year maximum penalty.

Attorney-General John Hatzistergos says mobile phone use by prisoners can be a serious security risk.

“Mobile phones have been used in the past to intimidate Crown witnesses, to threaten correctional officers and overseas we’ve seen instances where mobile phones have been used to secure escapes and even detonate bombs,” Mr Hatzistergos said.

Convict calls radio talk show from jail

According to the The Irish Times, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has ordered an inquiry after a convicted armed robber phoned a radio programme on a mobile phone from his prison cell.

"John Daly from Finglas, who is serving a nine-year sentence in the maximum security Portlaoise Prison, phoned RTÉ's LiveLine programme this morning.

Fine Gael Justice Spokesman Jim O'Keeffe it the incident was "absurd" and was "highly embarrassing" for Mr McDowell.

It is believed Daly has been moved to Cork Prison and has had a mobile phone confiscated."

Wardens Seize Bali Bombers' Cell Phones

Wardens seized nine phones from nine Muslim militants convicted in the 2002 Bali bombings, reports The Associated Press, amid concerns imprisoned Indonesian terrorists are contacting sympathizers outside.

"Police this week said a man on death row at a Bali prison for his role in the blasts gave religious instruction via cell phone to militants accused of attacking Christians on Sulawesi island.

Security at Indonesian prisons is notoriously lax. Inmates reportedly are free to buy and consume drugs, use phones and can even arrange for prostitutes to visit.

Last year, police said another militant on death row in the Bali attacks used a laptop computer and a wireless device to chat with fellow militants online."

Phone extortion coming from behind bars in Mexico

Mexico's fastest growing crime racket is being run out of the big house, reports Chron.com.

All an inmate needs is a cell phone — smuggled in with a reported $5,000 bribe to guards — and a list of potential victims. The criminals call at random, and the message rarely varies: "Hello, we've kidnapped your son. Pay up, or you will never see him again."

In a country ranked among the top kidnapping havens in the world, such threats are chillingly effective and skyrocketing — from eight reported telephone extortions in 2001 to 3,753 in 2005 — according to the Federal Investigative Agency. The agency, Mexico's equivalent of the FBI, had registered another 1,647 complaints nationwide by mid-September. Experts say the real number of extortions is probably 10 times as high, because most crimes go unreported in Mexico.

The Agency estimates that 80 percent of the calls are made from inside prisons, often by experienced kidnappers who continue to ply their trade from behind bars.

Ransoms range from $50 to tens of thousands of dollars, experts say. Victims pay either by depositing money in specified bank accounts or buying cell phone cards and providing the callers with the access codes. The callers then use those cards to continue the extortion.

Last year, telephone companies began putting messages on all calls made from public phones inside prisons, alerting recipients of their origin. Prison authorities have also tried blocking cell phone service in prisons. But those efforts have largely failed, partly because neighbors have complained about losing their own service, said criminal lawyer Oscar Tukumaga.

Related stories:

-- Mexico's Prisons Are Home to Drug Lords
-- Cons continue to run rackets by cell phones.
-- More inmate-cellphone stories in textually.

Prison gives new meaning to cell phone

This sounds crazy as most jails around the world have a huge problem with inmates smuggling in cell phones and organizing crimes from the inside, but according to The Inquirer, a British prison will be providing their iinmates with the use of a mobile phone within their cells.

"The idea is justified on the grounds that prisoners normally have to queue for ages to use the public telephones. If they have their own phones they can call loved ones at times of need. They'll have to pay for the airtime, though."

More on Murphy, first sniffer dog able to detect cell phones

More on the UK's first cell phone sniffing dog, from Wisbech Standard.

"Murphy, a 20 month-old English Springer Spaniel, is undergoing the last stages of his training in prisons across the East of England. He has been trained to recognise the distinctive smell of phone handsets.

Phil Bowyer, of Orchard Leys, and a colleague, Mel Barker, have helped to train the only sniffer dog in the UK that is capable of identifying the scent given off by mobile phones.

Mr Bowyer, area drug dog co-ordinator for the prison service eastern area, said: "In order to disrupt the supply of illicit drugs and contraband entering our prisons the Prison Service is determined to develop new methods of detecting mobile phones.

"These new methods include the most up-to-date electronic mobile phone detectors together with the implementation of a research and development program to use 'sniffer dogs' to detect mobile phones."

Mr Bowyer added: "His training to date has been very successful, and he has been able to correctly identify mobile phones. The prison service will be monitoring Murphy's success with a view to introducing similar dogs in other jails."

Previously: Jail dog sniffs out illicit phones

Jail dog sniffs out illicit phones

Phones smuggled into jails is a problem worldwide - this blog has an entire chapter devoted to Inmates and cell phones stories - as thanks to cell phones, convicts are able to stay in touch with the outside world and continue business as usual, running rackets, directing drug cartels, even ordering executions from behind bars.

They are smuggled into jails in the most imaginative ways and have been found in toads, mayonnaise jars, in compost piles, a prisoner's bowels, the soles of their shoes, inside hollowed-out blocks of cheese, or alarmingly and more commonly, through a corrupt correctional officer.

Now, it seems the UK may have come up with the perfect solution for detecting them. A sniffer dog, according to The Times..

A sniffer dog has become the first in Britain to be trained to search out mobile phones in jails. Murphy, a 15-month-old English springer spaniel, undertook his first trial at Norwich prison yesterday.

According to the BBC , Mel Barker, the dog trainer at Norwich Prison, said: "Every mobile phone has a scent which is unique to mobile phones. .

Cellphones Found Inside Cellmates

Four prisoners in an El Salvador jail hid cellphones, a phone charger and spare chips in their bowels so they could coordinate crimes from their cells, prison officials said on Wednesday. Reuters reports via Gizmodo.

Related:

-- Inmates reach new creativity level in smuggling in cell phones - Cellphones are making their way into jails and prison through all kinds of methods: Drug barons incarcerated in a Thai prison have been using toads to smuggle in mobile phones and SIM cards. Elsewhere they're stuffed inside mayonnaise jars, hidden in compost piles, shoved into the soles of shoes, slipped inside hollowed-out blocks of cheese. But the most alarming way to obtain a cellphone is to simply to pay a corrupt correctional officer to provide one.

Inmate harrasses real estate woman by SMS

We've heard of inmates using cell phones to organize crime on the outside or rioting, leveraging minutes in echange for cash or goods, but this is the first story about an inmate sexually harrassing women by text messaging from behind bars.

According to stuff.co New Zealand "National MP Simon Power has released a copy of a memo from the real estate agent's office which alleges a prisoner has been texting saleswomen making enquiries about properties for sale on the web.

"He targets females. He asks for information to be sent to Private Bag 4720, Christchurch. This is Christchurch Prison," the memo states. "We understand he then follows up with offensive texts which are of an obscene nature," it states.

Mr Power said he was stunned by the revelation an imate at Christchurch Prison was harassing women by text. All the real estate agents had been told was "they shouldn't reply to the texts".

Detector for locating hidden cell phones

As cell phones proliferate in jails around the world, enabling gangster to organize crimes on the outside from behind bars or have access to cash by selling minutes or actual handsets to other inmates. A company in Tenessee is selling a product to help detect where prisoners are stashing them in their cells - even when the phone is turned off.

"A private prison management company in the United States, The GEO Group Inc. is offering a new application of patented hightech equipment for detecting and locating hidden contraband cellular phones (even if the phone is not transmitting or even turned off).

The equipment, the ORION Non-Linear Junction Detector (NLJD) manufactured by REI in Algood Tennessee, responds to electronic components, allowing the user to detect and locate electronic items (such as hidden cellular phones), even if the electronic item is turned off or not transmitting. This technology offers a working solution for correctional facilities to manage contraband cellular phones".

Press release (pdf)

Prison's mobile phone blocker does not work

The system designed to disrupt mobile signals coming into Sweden’s high-security Hall prison is not working as it is supposed to, allowing prisoners to use mobile phones, reports The Local, Sweden's News in English.

"The installation at the prison – the first prison to receive this technology in Sweden – has been a failure, said those responsible at facility in Södertälje, south of Stockholm.

The system was intended to block out both mobile signals inside the prison walls and register them".

Interview of PCC leader from jail by mobile phone

Following a wave of unprecedented violence over the weekend in São Paulo - coordinated by inmates from inside the jails with their cell phones - Brazilian mobile operators are under pressure by their government to block signals in prisons, reports Cellular News.

Meanwhile, in a related article, the BBC, reports on "a row which has broken out over an interview which a journalist says he got with a gang leader - via mobile phone from a maximum security jail.

The Bandeirantes television channel says the man who spoke by phone to its reporter was Marcus Camacho, known as Marcola, the alleged leader of the gang known as the First Command of the Capital (PCC).

He told reporter Roberto Cabrini that the violence would never have happened had the state authorities respected the Brazilian constitution in their treatment of prisoners. The PCC was ready and had the means to attack again, he said.

The Sao Paulo authorities have ordered experts to authenticate the recording, insisting that Marcola is in isolation without a phone.

But correspondents say gang leaders often get phones smuggled in to them with the help of corrupt guards."

BBC slideshow of the riots in Brazil.

Related article: Brazil's mighty prison gangs

Brazil's mighty prison gangs

Organised gangs - so ubiquitous in Brazilian jails that many experts believe criminals virtually run the country's prison system - are said to be behind the current rioting. The BBC reports.

"One of the most prominent of them is the First Command of the Capital (PCC).

The power of the PCC - both inside and outside prisons - has been heightened in recent years by the availability of mobile phones.

Gang leaders get phones smuggled through heavy prison security with the help of corrupt guards - and thus are able to run their criminal activities from the safety of their cells.

... Since the start of 2006, the state authorities say the PCC has orchestrated rebellions in dozens of prison. According to a wardens' union, more than 460 guards have been taken hostage."

For inmates, having a phone can add years in the cell

Michael Manor was serving 32 years in a Texas jail for auto theft when he managed to do something a jury thought even worse - sneak a cellphone into prison, reports The Dallas Morning News.

With a criminal record that included robbery and kidnapping, Manor got no sympathy from jurors. Last year, they slapped him with a 40-year sentence for possession of a cellphone after he dropped one from his prison bunk.

"We are trying to remove him from society. He doesn't deserve to have a cellphone," said Phil Hall, who prosecuted the case. "The jury really bought into the argument."

Although they did not allege that Manor, now 41, used the phone to plan crimes or an escape (he called his sister), jurors gave him the longest sentence anyone has received since lawmakers made possession of a cellphone in prison a third-degree felony .

... The punishment is harsher than any other handed down for the crime, but prosecutors said it shows how seriously the criminal justice system is taking a new type of contraband that can help inmates escape and allow offenders to conduct criminal business from a prison cell."

Cell phone smuggling is a big problem in Texas prisons

Phones smuggled into jails is a problem worldwide - this blog has an entire chapter devoted to Inmates and cell phone stories - as thanks to cell phones convicts are able to stay in touch with the outside world and continue business as usual (sort of), running rackets, directing drug cartels, even ordering executions from behind bars.

In the UK penitenciaries, it seems SIM cards have become a valuable currency, as they can contain the key to a criminal enterprise. One prison officer said told The Telelgraph. "It is the equivalent of handing someone a ready-made business".

Today The Houston Chronicle opens our eyes to yet another way cell phones are used by Texas inmates, they're used a currency as prisoners sell minutes to other inmates. "It's just like American Express it's good as cash," said John Moriarty, inspector general of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Investigators say prisoners are willing to pay between $350 and $600 to have a phone smuggled into prison.

... But some defense attorneys say <prosecutors haven't proven cell phones are used for anything more than getting in touch with family. Texas prisons don't have pay phones, so offenders are desperate to communicate.

"Drugs take you out of the prison psychologically," said David P. O'Neil, a defense attorney in Huntsville and former director of the prison system's public defender's office. "Phones place you outside the prison in a different sense. There is a premium on escaping in that sense."

Drug ring phone cards on sale in jail

The war against drugs is being undermined by a black market in mobile phone sim cards containing details of drug dealing franchises, reports The Telegraph.

Recently jailed prisoners are selling the cards to inmates nearing release for up to £20,000. Each contains a microchip storing the telephone numbers of drug suppliers and addicts, which were once in the memory of the dealer's phone. That information provides access to an established drug-dealing network, with the potential to earn thousands of pounds a week.

Experts are worried that the illicit trade is hampering police efforts to close down drug networks because a criminal, armed with the information on the sim (subscriber identity module) card, can replace a dealer who has been locked up.

"Sim cards have become big currency in prison because they can contain the key to a criminal enterprise," said one prison officer. "It is the equivalent of handing someone a ready-made business. If someone goes to prison for a long time because of a drugs offence it makes sense for them to sell their sim card. The addicts will not be too choosy about where they get their drugs from."

Because of their size, sim cards are difficult to detect.

The prison officer added: "Sim cards are very small and easy to hide. Prisoners can keep them in their mouths and all sorts of places without fear of being detected."

Cons continue to run rackets by cell phones

Prison wardens in Ulster have recovered 31 mobiles from prisoners since April last year - a rate of three phones a month, reports The Belfast Telegraph, indicating criminals have continued to run outside operations from their cells through mobile phones.

Cellphones and inmates is a reoccuring issue in prisons around the world, but what's different in this article is the mention that recharging the phones is an issue for prisoners. Phones are smuggled in but not the chargers!

"Inmates are also turning their hands to electrical engineering to develop crude devices to recharge and power up the phones. Very occasionally we have found manufactured chargers but the majority of finds are of improvised chargers," said the spokeswoman.

"These tend to be made from items which prisoners will routinely have in their possession such as stereos and radios or from batteries grouped together as in a recent case".

Related stories:

-- Mexico's Prisons Are Home to Drug Lords - Mexico's three maximum-security prisons have struggled with a wave of corruption and violence in the past year. Officials acknowledge drug lords operate freely from jail, using cell phones and teams of lawyers to direct their cartels

-- Drug barons turn to toads to smuggle mobile phones - Inmates reach new creativity level in smuggling in cell phones. According to PCPro, drug barons incarcerated in a Thai prison have been using toads, yes toads, to smuggle in mobile phones and SIM cards.

-- Mafioso and prison guard run racket behind bars - ailed Mafia boss, Santi Timpani, and prison guard,Attilio Peppino Iannazzo, have been caught running a protection racket from a Catanzaro prison, sending orders to henchmen and threats to victims via SMS messages

-- Santosh Jha makes threat calls from jail - In India a prisoner used a cell phone from jail to threaten in wife.

-- More inmate-cellphone stories in textually