Ministry of Justice presents June progress report on narcotic drugs and other prohibited items detected at penitentiary institutions of the Republic of Armenia

The officers of the Operations, Security and Safety Divisions of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice continue their unwavering fight against the circulation of prohibited items and narcotic drugs, as well as for exclusion of the cases of card games at penitentiary institutions. Adhering to the policy of transparent and accountable governance adopted by the Government, from this point forth, the Ministry of Justice will submit progress reports on narcotic drugs and other prohibited items detected at the penitentiary institutions of Armenia during the previous month.

Hidden packages containing narcotic drugs were detected with detained persons at different penitentiary institutions during the month of June.

After coming out from a short visit, a detained person at "Armavir" Penitentiary Institution changed his shoes in which he had hidden 5 packages of powder-like masses similar to narcotic drugs.

At the same penitentiary institution, a white, powder-like mass weighing a total of 0.82 grams was detected as a result of examination of a delivery brought by a citizen in the name of a convict; the mass was poured in-between 11 single-use plastic plates stacked on top of each other in the delivery.

A package thrown in the vicinity of the parting wall of the residential zone of one of the penitentiary institutions was detected; the package contained white powder and pieces similar to pills.

One of the cells of the penitentiary institutions was also searched; a syringe with a needle was detected, another syringe was detected at the back of the sink of the toilet facility in the cell.

Materials are being prepared within the scope of the criminal case in relation to all the instances listed above, forensic and chemical examinations have been designated. The detailed report is presented in the attached figure.