Officers, not technology, stop huge drug drop into Stony prison

Stony Mountain Institution officers intercepted $1.8 million worth of drugs and other banned items Sunday in one of the largest reported seizures in recent years at Manitoba’s only federal prison.

Jake Suelzle, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers’ prairie region, said employees spotted a drone while it delivered packages containing contraband.

“What marks this one a little bit unique is the (Correctional Service of Canada) just invested a significant amount of money into a drone detector, and this drone detector sure showed its worth when it didn’t detect at all,” he said Tuesday. “No alarm was raised when this package was dropped.”

In a news release that offered limited details, the correctional service said the items, including THC concentrate, were found in packages thanks to the “vigilance” of employees.

The Free Press contacted CSC to seek additional information and a response to the union’s comments. A spokesperson indicated a response is not expected until Wednesday.

Police were notified about the seizure. Sunday’s incident is one of at least nine significant seizures at or near Stony Mountain Institution, totalling almost $4.5 million, to be publicly reported by the correctional service or Manitoba RCMP this year. The prison is about 12 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

Shortly after a drone delivery occurred in February, RCMP stopped a man who allegedly planned to drop a second package containing balloons filled with tobacco and drugs that were worth about $600,000.

The latest seizure is one of the largest to be reported in the last decade in terms of the institutional value of the banned items.

“This kind of fits with what we get on a pretty regular basis,” Suelzle said.

CSC reported contraband seizures worth $1 million in April 2025, $1.8 million in August 2022 and $2 million in December 2021.

“The last number of years, probably going back into the small double digits, what we’re seeing for interception of packages is growing astronomically,” Suelzle said.

“It used to be a relatively rare occasion that we saw contraband introduced over the fence. It is the No. 1 way that contraband gets in. Drones and throw-overs, but predominantly drones.”

Federal prisons have piloted different drone-detection technology. As of last spring, CSC was also preparing to pilot drone-jamming technology at two institutions, says a federal report, which did not name the institutions.

Drones cannot be flown within restricted or controlled airspace around a federal prison without permission.

The department’s efforts to detect or block drones haven’t kept up with advancements in drone technology, Suelzle said.

“Federal government procurement is about the most bureaucratic, inefficient, red-taped procedure that anyone could ever imagine,” he said.

“By the time we get a hold of drone-detector equipment, the technology being used by the drones is so far past what we’re able to procure that it literally has the value of a paperweight.”

Suelzle said some correctional officer positions, known as multi-function positions, will be cut this fall. Their duties include patrolling perimeters and inside yards.

“They decided to cut these positions in lieu of the technological advancements being made. Here is a case in point where the technology simply doesn’t replace the eyes on the ground,” Suelzle said, referring to Sunday’s seizure.

“Without those positions there, all of that and who knows how much more would have found its way into the (inmate) population, and we’d be derelict on our mission to keep the institution safe.”

The union has objected to the cuts and called for stronger in-house punitive measures to discourage inmates from smuggling or selling drugs.

CSC is also piloting technology to detect cellphones used by inmates.

It is unclear how many interceptions lead to criminal charges or internal disciplinary action.

In June, an inmate who was caught with $1.2 million worth of drugs in his cell was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for possession of cocaine and methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking.

The bust happened after a prisoner saw a drone fly drugs through his cell window in September 2023, court heard.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca