“There is close cooperation between the directorate, the Department for Combating Drugs and the Customs Department to detect prohibited items being smuggled into prisons using the latest technology,” directorate spokesman Col. Ayoub bin Hijab bin Nihait said.

He said most prohibited items are smuggled into prisons by prisoners coming back from family visits. “Regrettably, there are also some prison employees who are bribed into doing this,” he said.

He recalled that a prison guard was caught a few weeks ago trying to smuggle in drugs and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

The spokesman explained that inmates in various prisons in the Kingdom are classified according to their ages and the nature of their crimes.

“Prisoners jailed for drug offenses are usually separate from other inmates held on charges of murder and public or private rights,” he said, adding that prisoners aged between 18 and 22 are kept in separate barracks.

The spokesman said the main problem prisons face is crowding as a result of the steady increase in the number of prisoners, especially in big cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah. He said Al-Hayer prison in Riyadh currently has about 4,000 inmates.

He pointed out that the directorate started executing the recommendations of an integrated study that called for the establishment of 24 reformatories, which could also be considered universities for education and upbringing.

“Four of these correction houses were built in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province. We also have plans to expand the number of prisons to be able to accommodate the rising number of prisoners.”