Ex-guard at Pöschwies prison charged with drug trafficking
A 64-year-old former employee of Pöschwies correctional facility is standing trial for smuggling narcotic drugs and mobile telephones to inmates.
Ex-guard at Pöschwies prison charged with drug trafficking
Since Friday, a trial has been under way at Dielsdorf district court against a 64-year-old Swiss man who previously worked at Pöschwies correctional facility. The man is alleged to have run a smuggling network over several months together with two inmates and the mother of a prisoner. This is reported by SWI swissinfo.ch.
The defendant is accused of acting as a link between the outside world and the inmates. He allegedly exploited his considerable freedom of movement within the facility and the absence of body searches. Over a period of approximately 24 months, roughly 40 packages are said to have reached the prison, 22 of them containing illegal substances such as marijuana, hashish, cocaine and muscle-building steroids.
A 72-year-old Serbian woman, the mother of one of the inmates, is alleged to have sourced the goods and handed them to the ex-guard at public places such as restaurants or petrol stations. Sometimes she also smuggled the packages in herself during visits to her son. At home, the defendant weighed the drugs, portioned them and then hid them at agreed locations in the correctional facility—for example in waste containers in the workshops or on shelves.
The inmates later collected the goods and sold them to other prisoners. For each delivery, the ex-employee is said to have received between 100 and 600 Swiss francs.
The facility itself filed a report in July 2022. The police subsequently investigated and searched the man's apartment. He spent five months in pre-trial detention. The prosecution is now demanding a prison sentence of three years, of which one year is to be served in semi-detention and two years on probation. An additional fine is also sought.
Next Wednesday, the mother and the two inmates will also be sentenced. Prison sentences of between 14 and 36 months are being sought for them. The mother and son also face a five-year ban from the country. It is still unclear whether a verdict will be handed down on the day of the hearing.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)