A woman has been arrested after allegedly using her baby and a balloon to smuggle drugs into a prison.
The Corrections Department says a drug dog was first to think the woman might have drugs in her vehicle, when she arrived at Ngawha Prison near Kaikohe on Friday.
The department says it later emerged that she had hidden 20 grams of cannabis inside a balloon that her baby was holding.
Acting prison manager Chris Gisler describes the incident as horrific but not uncommon.
He says the woman is facing charges and has been banned from visiting the prison for a year.
He believes she may be relieved about the ban as many people are often pressured or blackmailed into smuggling drugs into the prison.
