‘Enough for a house deposit’: How crims are making bank inside SA prisons
Ex-inmates claim they exploited this black market trick behind bars and walked out with enough cash for a house deposit.
A black market trade in South Australian prisons is generating thousands of dollars a month for inmates, with cigarettes now so valuable that some prisoners are allegedly walking out with “enough for a house” deposit.
Multiple inmates have told the Sunday Mail that individual cigarettes fetch up to $50 each, with a single $27 pouch of tobacco selling for more than $1000 inside.
“I know people who have come out of prison with enough for a house deposit after less than a year there selling tobacco,” one source said.
“Two rolled white oxes (a type of tobacco) can go for $100.”
The illegal trade – fuelled by SA’s total prison smoking ban in 2019 – has created dangerous power structures within the system, where dominant inmates often called “Heads” run rackets and take cuts from junior traders, sources claim.
Meanwhile, many prisoners are turning to sex work for just for a few cigarettes at a time.
“Give them a cut or get stabbed,” one inmate said.
“It doesn’t automatically make you a gangster if you’re selling because you’re expected to hand over a portion to the guys who really run the place.”
One high-profile murderer is reportedly using his control of the tobacco trade to exert a disturbing influence, allegedly demanding that young Aboriginal inmates lick his toes in exchange for cigarettes.
Others say the flow of illicit tobacco is also fuelling high-stakes gambling, prostitution, and at times creating the opportunity for corruption.
“Some guys gamble thousands during card games,” one source said. “Others are selling themselves for a smoke.”
Contraband is smuggled into facilities via body concealment on visitors, thrown over fences, or moved internally using toilets and piping systems.
A common method involves blocking the pipes with sheets anchored by plastic cutlery, allowing items to be flushed and retrieved between wings and cells.
The Department for Correctional Services confirmed that tobacco was the second most commonly seized contraband in SA prisons last year after illicit drugs, with 192 tobacco-related items confiscated – three times more than homemade weapons.
However, sources say that tobacco remains more profitable than illicit drugs in jails and second only to alcohol in price because of the difficulty of smuggling alcohol inside.
The department estimates about 80 per cent of the state’s 2800 prisoners were smokers before the ban.
In 2023-24, 104,000 searches were conducted across the prison system, up 14 per cent on the previous year, with nearly 1600 contraband items uncovered.
A department spokeswoman said a record amount of contraband had been seized to “support prisoner, staff and community safety”.
The 2025-26 state budget includes $6.8m for hi-tech body scanners at prisons that will detect tiny traces of substances.
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Originally published as ‘Enough for a house deposit’: How crims are making bank inside SA prisons
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