Percocet, weed, razor blades and a screwdriver were among the items that turned up in a contraband search of a ceiling vent inside a Brooklyn juvenile jail, according to staff records obtained by Gothamist.
Staff at Crossroads Juvenile Detention Center in Brownsville noticed a radiator in someone’s room was detached and submitted a work order for repair, according to an incident report summarizing the contraband and naming the residents and staffers involved.
On July 8, workers found three Target bags containing contraband inside the vent. Other items in the bags included tobacco leaf, tools used for processing cannabis, rolling paper and long, sharp metal objects wrapped in black tape, per the records, which were shared by a current staffer at the center.
The city’s Administration for Children’s Services, which runs the juvenile jails, said in a statement that it was investigating the source of the contraband.
“We are taking critical steps to find and eliminate all contraband, and this recovery was part of an ongoing robust effort to address contraband issues,” said ACS spokesperson Marisa Kaufman. “Any staff found to have brought contraband into our facilities will be disciplined to the highest extent possible.”
The city’s two juvenile jails — Crossroads Juvenile Center and Horizon Juvenile Detention Center in the South Bronx — house roughly 200 inmates between the ages of 12 and 21.
The discovery in the ceiling vent is not the first time that contraband has made its way into the facilities. Last year, Gothamist reported that staffers at all levels at the detention centers, including supervisors, had smuggled in drugs, alcohol, cash and razor blades. And last month, federal prosecutors charged five current and former staffers at the Brooklyn jail with bribery after they allegedly smuggled in contraband in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in cash.
Earlier this year, a guard at the same Brownsville jail was arrested for smuggling in cellphones and SIM cards, police and prosecutors said.