Powerful opioid drug Bupe smuggled into Silverwater Jail in greetings card

It read like an intimate love card with the title “thinking of you” but prison officers quickly discovered a secret admirer was thinking of a female inmate in “completely” the wrong way.

It read like an intimate love card with the title “thinking of you” but prison officers quickly discovered a secret admirer was thinking of a female inmate in “completely” the wrong way.

Corrective Services NSW officers grew suspicious when they noticed the spine of the card sent to a woman at maximum-security Silverwater jail was slightly detached before they found 12 strips of bupe, a powerful opioid prescribed to replace heroin, concealed inside.

Guards at Silverwater jail seized a love letter with bupe strips concealed within it.

The seizure was the latest of four disturbing incidents where dozens of bupe strips were hidden in greeting cards

The seizure last month was the latest of four disturbing incidents where dozens of bupe strips were hidden in greeting cards and express post envelopes and sent to prisons across NSW, including Long Bay, Lithgow and Dillwynia correctional centres.

Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre governor Paula Quarrie said her officers pulled away the inner paper from the cardboard backing before finding the 12 strips, which inside jail are worth upwards of $200 to prisoners chasing their next fix.

“Someone was thinking of this inmate in completely the wrong way,” she said.

The seizure was the latest of four disturbing incidents where dozens of bupe strips were hidden in greeting cards.

“My staff did a great job to locate these drugs before they could get into the wrong hands.”
Authorities said an associate of the inmate sent the card but that they used a fake address.

In NSW prisons, bupe is distributed on paper-thin strips and either placed on the tongue, smoked or injected using makeshift syringes.

Its use been rising in recent years, becoming even more popular than amphetamines or marijuana.

Corrective Services officers raid cells at Silverwater Jail looking for contraband. Picture: Richard Dobson

Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin said it was vital drugs were kept out of prisons.

Last year, there were about 100 incidents of contraband being found in mail sent to NSW prisoners, with bupe being the most common drug seized.

In most cases, the sender’s name and address are fake.

Corrections regularly hands over the contents of letters to police to help with their inquiries.

Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin said it was vital that drugs were kept out of the state’s prisons.

“It’s important that inmates stay in touch with families and friends through letters, but this kind of behaviour jeopardises their chances of rehabilitation,” he said.