Cons at an open prison have been caught producing crack cocaine in their cells.
The lags were heating normal cocaine to manufacture the more addictive derivative.
It is believed the crack was then sold to other inmates – and some may have even ended up being flogged to the public by cons on day release.
The class A drug ring was busted at category D HMP Sudbury – where lags leave to do jobs and training on the outside.
A source said: “This is supposed to be a secure environment. It beggars belief prisoners were able to do this. It’s like something from Breaking Bad.”
A report by the Independent Monitoring Board into the Derbyshire jail said: “There has been evidence of cocaine being converted into crack.”
Cocaine is cooked using a heat source and mixed with baking soda to take out impurities and leave a purer product. The crack is then smoked.
Sudbury has housed notiorious lags including cop killer Harry Roberts and former Premier League footballer Lee Hughes, who was sentenced to six years in 2004 for causing death by dangerous driving in November 2003.
TV hit Breaking Bad told the story of a chemistry teacher who became a secret drugs kingpin after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
We told five years ago how a Sudbury inmate was caught with a kilo of cocaine in the boot of his car after driving “home” from work. Some cons are allowed to use their own cars to go to their workplaces.
Sudbury – once likened to a holiday camp – saw 92 escapes in just five years. In 2019, we told how inmates were being let out to do park runs.
A spokeperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “We are finding more drugs and hooch due to our investment in security measures.
“Anyone found to be in possession of contraband faces being moved back to closed conditions.”
