Tobacco, cigarette papers, cannabis, Spice-lined paper, lighters and screwdrivers were also found during an operation at Forest Bank prison in Agecroft.
Cells were searched at 4am by prison officers working off intelligence from Greater Manchester Police on those at the top of organised crime groups.
Phones are used to organise criminal empires from inside prison, intimidate witnesses and potentially plot escapes.
They are also used to plan smuggling in of contraband, which include using visitors to bring in items or arranging for tennis balls loaded with drugs or other packages to be thrown over compound walls.
Operation Dragonfire was launched after a spike in the number of phone ‘throw overs’, where mobile phones are thrown over the prison walls of the jail.
It was carried by GMP, HMP Forest Bank, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU).
After the cell searches, a ‘large-scale’ operation took place to target those involved in getting the phones into the Sodexo-run prison.
With support from GMP’s Drone and Tactical Dog unit, as well as NWROCU, a range of covert and overt patrols were deployed.
This led to six arrests and six packages intercepted, which included three phones, tobacco, cannabis, cigarette papers, spice laced lined paper, lighters, and screwdrivers, which can be used to hide contraband.
In the cell searches, 14 phones, two devices similar to a Wi-Fi router, a large number of steroids, several sim cards and other electrical contraband were all recovered, which will prove a major blow to crime networks.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Mossop from Programme Challenger at GMP said: “The operation was about targeting who was going to be having the most impact – who they are and what they are believed to be involved in. We prioritised the ones that had the most impact.
Source: (Manchester Evening News)
