Undercover New York City investigator sneaks contraband into Rikers Island jail

[November 07, 2014]  (Reuters) - An undercover investigator posing as a New York City corrections officer was able to sneak $22,000 worth of contraband into the troubled Rikers Island jail complex, officials said on Thursday.

The report is the latest in a spate of problems at Rikers Island, which houses some 12,000 inmates and is the largest jail in the city, coming just months after three guards were charged with trafficking drugs into the facility.

The inspector was able to smuggle large amounts of heroin, prescription narcotics and marijuana as well as a razor blade and a water bottle full of vodka into six separate Rikers Island facilities, according to a report by the City of New York Department of Investigation (DOI).

The city's Department of Correction agreed to improve its security measures following the operation, including posting drug-sniffing dogs at staff entrances for the first time.

"I have zero tolerance for anyone, including staff, bringing contraband into DOC facilities," Department of Correction (DOC) Commissioner Joseph Ponte said in a statement.

"The Department has already begun reforms to address the issues raised in the DOI report, and we will continue to work with DOI to keep our facilities safe," Ponte added.

The undercover investigator hid the banned items in the pockets of his trousers, and carried the alcohol-filled bottle in his hand, the report said.

The report said guards are able to smuggle contraband into the jail because the screening protocols were lax and not widely followed.

At one of the checkpoints, the investigator triggered the metal detector and was told to empty his pockets. He said he had already done so, and was not questioned further, the report added.

In July, three guards were indicted for smuggling drugs into the compound and selling them to inmates. A month earlier, authorities raided the jail searching guards, inmates and their cells as a part of a crackdown on crime occurring within the jail.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

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