Suliman Negah, 29, sentenced over drug find in Canberra’s jail, the Alexander Maconochie Centre
Suliman Negah, 29, was already serving jail time for trafficking meth when he was busted with drugs in his jocks.
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An inmate at Canberra’s notoriously badly run jail, the Alexander Maconochie Centre, was busted with a package of drugs down his jocks after meeting a visitor.
Suliman Negah, also known as Sulaiman Rustam, 29, is serving a four year jail sentence for trafficking nearly a kilo of low grade meth.
In February this year, prison officials lined up six inmates, including Negah, after they met with visitors and before they returned to their cells.
A sniffer dog indicated Negah had drugs on him, and when questioned by guards, Negah replied: “yes, I have a drop in my jocks”.
According to court documents, Negah produced a golf ball sized package, which testing revealed contained 16g — or more than half an ounce — of cannabis, and 34 bupe strips.
Bupe strips are a powerful pain killer which dissolve in the mouth and which have a similar effect to methadone.
The source of the drugs is unknown.
They are commonly misused in prisons, because they are easy to conceal and almost impossible for sniffer dogs to detect.
In the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, Negah, self-represented, said: “I don’t have any excuse for what I did.”
He said he hoped to live with his mum and return to work as a renderer when he was released from jail.
Prosecutors argued the community expected prisons to be drug-free, but conceded they often are not.
Magistrate James Stewart sentenced Negah to four months jail.
He also ordered Negah’s sentence to run partly alongside his existing jail term, meaning his total jail term is four years and two months.
Mr Stewart said the sentence “may seem a little gentle”, but said increasing a prisoners jail term was “significant” to inmates approaching the end of a long stint behind bars.
Negah’s non-parole period has been pushed back a month.
He will now be eligible for parole in June next year.