How drug trafficking works in prison

According to statistics , today almost every third prisoner in Russian prisons and colonies is convicted on drug-related charges (Articles 228-233 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, a prison term does not always mean that people who were involved in the distribution or storage of narcotic substances in the wild lose the opportunity to do so in prison. At the request of samizdat, Mediazona journalist Maxim Litavrin spoke with several former and currently serving prisoners in Russian prisons to understand what role drugs in general and heroin in particular play in the life of the modern Russian penitentiary system. In this text, we talked about how drugs get into the zone, how the shadow market for substances differs in isolation wards, in red zones and in maximum security colonies, and why thieves in law are afraid of spice. The material was deleted on April 15, 2021 at the request of Roskomnadzor. The reason specified in the department’s request is as follows: “Information has been posted aimed at disorganizing correctional institutions, ensuring isolation from society, violating the internal regulations of correctional institutions, as well as methods of delivering prohibited items and narcotic drugs to correctional institutions, recognized as prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation.” .