A large-scale lockdown of the Golden Grove Prison, Arouca, began yesterday morning shortly after 9 a.m. and ended around 5 p.m. Prison officers seized a number of contraband items including cellular phones and crudely crafted weapons.

From around 9.15 officers were seen being briefed by their seniors as they prepared for the searches in which sniffer dogs as well as metal detectors were used.

Up to press time there was no official word on the raid from the Prison Commissioner's office although one member of the Prison Officer Association said that the exercise was "long in coming".

Previously, such exercises in the Golden Grove prison had been met with hostility from the inmate population who claimed that their rights were being violated.

During those previous exercises there had been fall-outs between the First Division members of the Prison Service (its higher ranks) and the junior officers who felt betrayed because, in their view, the senior officers were choosing to "negotiate" with prisoners.

The Sunday Express was not told exactly how many contraband items had been seized during yesterday's raid. One source would only say that the number was, "surprising".