Staff at the Mt Eden prison in Auckland have shut down a potential route for drug smuggling into the prison, says the Department of Corrections.
The department says staff found prisoners had been tampering with the metal that covers the exercise yard to try to create a small gap through which they could retrieve drugs.
It says the yards of Mt Eden Prison sit directly under the northern motorway off-ramp, and staff have seen everything from drugs to takeway chicken thrown off the bridge towards the yards.
The yard has been temporarily closed for repairs and the prisoners involved in the incident have been charged under the prison's internal disciplinary system.
