Prisoners surrendered hundreds of opioid tablets after fatal overdose

Prisoners surrendered hundreds of synthetic opioid tablets after a fatal overdose at Mountjoy Prison, a report has said.

The Irish Prison Service issued an urgent drug alert to all prisons on July 18 2024 over nitazene tablets after the overdose of a 21-year-old at Mountjoy.

A death-in-custody report published on Wednesday said the prisoner had been observed behaving “in an erratic manner” in the days before his death, with at least one officer believing him to be under the influence of illicit substances but determining there was no requirement for medical intervention.

The man, identified as Mr Q, was not the only prisoner suspected of being under the influence of drugs at the time.

There had been a number of serious and near-fatal incidents involving synthetic opioids in prisons during summer 2024.

On the morning of July 18, an officer entered Mr Q’s cell and found him unresponsive with dried blood on his face coming from his nostrils.

A “code red” was called but the chief nurse officer saw “no signs of life” and the prisoner was “cold to the touch”.

He appeared to have been dead for a while.

A fellow prisoner said he believed Mr Q had taken “yellow tablets” which had been associated with four non-fatal overdoses at the prison that week.

The report said: “Word spread rapidly throughout the prison population as to the potential lethality of the contraband drugs as 300 to 400 ‘yellow tablets’ were surrendered by prisoners to Mountjoy Prison staff later that day.

“The content of these tablets was swiftly analysed and, on the following day, confirmed to contain the synthetic opioid nitazine.”

The Inspector of Prisons has recommended that prisoners’ cells should be searched if they are suspected to be intoxicated, and that a general search of cells should be considered if multiple prisoners are intoxicated.

It also recommended that the Irish Prison Service should intensify efforts to physically prevent contraband from entering prisons.

The inspector welcomed the recent installation of new and more effective anti-drone netting on certain exercise yards at Mountjoy Prison and at other prisons in Ireland.