An Imam has been arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle £60,000 worth of drugs into Belmarsh prison.
Mohamed Rawat was stopped at the prison gates and found to have 60 sheets of paper soaked in spice, a synthetic drug which is rampant in UK prisons.
The 49-year-old from North London was under investigation by an anti-corruption unit at the Category A prison which holds some of the country’s most notorious criminals including Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who killed Fusilier Lee Rigby in 2013 and Muslim extremist preacher Anjem Choudary was also an inmate there.
Belmarsh holds around 900 prisoners with a quarter believed to be Muslim. Rawat who describes himself as an 'active religious leader', worked voluntarily at the prison but has now been banned from going back until the conclusion of the investigation.
Scotland Yard confirmed: "On Wednesday, November 28, police arrested a man at Belmarsh Prison on suspicion of possession with intent to supply an illegal substance. He has since been released under investigation. Enquiries continue."
Spice is a similar to cannabis but is far stronger and causes some users to become violent and delusional. It is popular with inmates as it cannot be detected in drugs tests and can be sprayed on to sheets of paper. Inmates are no longer given books or letters in case they have been saturated with spice. They are given photocopies instead.
Things got so bad that last year guards at Belmarsh fell ill after accidentally inhaling spice. The jail now has sniffer dogs, a body-scanner machine in the reception area and an ‘itemiser’ that can test for drugs in the post room.
Rory Stewart, the prisons minister said: “Its (spice) widespread use in prisons puts a huge strain on the NHS as ambulances have to be sent to inmates who have overdosed and it has been linked to suicides and violent deaths in cells.”
Bob Blackman MP speaks during the event