What a guard's key and 'unknown pills' tell us about the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre

Lawyer Kevin Egan has been holding a heavy brass key in trustsince April and every time he looks at it, he's reminded how easily things seem to slip in and out of London's notorious Elgin MiddlesexDetention Centre.

"It's a guard's key that opens cell doors," he said. "An inmate somehow got that from a guard and took it out of the institution. The security is pretty lax."

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Egan, who is representing thousands of former inmates at the Elgin MiddlesexDetention Centre in a $325 million class action lawsuit alleging "cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment," has been holding the key, in trust for the jail, ever since.

"I've written to the jail and asked them if it's their key and I got a response that they would take possession of it and deal with it appropriately," he said, noting jail staff promised to come pick it up months ago.

It was only after Eganspoke to CBC News about the missing key that EMDC security managerBrian MacDougall, signed for its receipton Friday.

Drugs are widespread

A guard's key isn't the only item slipping through security at the London jail.Hundreds of internal documents released by the provincial government through a freedom of information request detailwhat guards confiscated from inside inmates' cells during routine inspections at EMDC between 2015 and 2016.

The documentssuggest that contraband, including illegal drugs, are widespread at the institution.

Based on the CBC's analysis of the documents, the most common items seized by guards were "unknown pills," which were discovered 70 times over the two-year period, an average of once every 10 days. In one particular case,guards even found a single inmate with "approximately 50 unknown pills" that were seized.

Pills more common than extra laundry

In fact, "unknown pills" seem to be more common at the jail than disposable lighters, which were found 64 times over the same period, or extra laundry, which was found 57 times.

The revelation comes after seven inmates at the London jail overdosed on an unknown drug within minutes of each other late last week, sending them all to hospital.

I believe quite strongly that's only the tip of the iceberg.- Kevin Egan

Egan, who for years has worked closely with inmates and guards who allege they were mistreated at the institution, questions why the pills would be listed as "unknown" in the first place.

"It strikes me as odd they would just listthem as 'unknown' and then not try to identify what's coming into the institution," he said. "Why not have that analyzed so they know what to look for, what kind of symptoms might go along with ingesting those pills or that powder? You know, become more proactive."

Egan saidthe numbers of items seized in the documents only tell part of the story of how widespread drug use is inside the institution.

"I believe quite strongly that's only the tip of the iceberg," he said. "There's a whole lot more there that hasn't been found and isbeing consumed."

Eganbelieves the numbers obtained byCBCNews do not accurately reflect the amount of drugs at the jail.

"What those numbers show to me is that [guards are] not beingvery diligent about searching," he said, noting that the 21 times marijuana and 12 times that "roaches" were confiscated from inmates in particular does not reflect the reality of how widespread its use is inside the jail.

"Marijuana is there all the time," he said.

Egan also notes that the 42 "brews," an improvised alcoholic concoction made by inmates using sugar and fermented fruit,discovered by guards inside garbage bags, shampoo bottles, even chip bags is also unusually low.

"At any given time, there's probably six to 10 brews going on at the jail," he said.

One of the other most common items seized by guards between 2015 and 2016 was "extra laundry," which includes clothing, bedding and shoes.

Egan said laundry, which can be used to make everything from improvisedexerciseequipment to improvisedweapons, is a valuable commodity inside the institution.

"Generally, it's the meanest, toughest inmate who gets to be the server, so they distribute the laundry," he said. "They get to keep whatever they want."

"They also distribute the meals and can force inmates who are on medications to surrender them for food and that sort of thing."

Egan also notes inmates will often use the thread from clothing and bedding to create "fishing lines" that can then be tied to a baggie of drugs or a handwritten note or "kite" and can thenbe used to transfer items back and forth between inmates on the ranges.

According to the documents obtained by CBC News through its freedom of information request, "fishing lines" were found less than five times by guards at EMDCbetween 2015 and 2016 and handwritten notes or "kites" were found only eight times.

Eganbelieves those numbers are too low and guards don't appear to be doing theirjobs when it comes to inmates passing information or drugs.

"They're ignoring them," he said. "Hand written notes and kites are common exchanges, so if they only found them eight times, that's a lack of vigilance."

Egan said based on his review of video evidence taken from inside Ontario jails, guards could easily see notes and drugs being passed back and forth, if they bothered to look.

"I know that's visible on cameras and veryinfrequentlydo they intervene in the trafficking that's going on right in front of them."

In fact, Egan said, if guards were to simply observe what inmates are doing, either in person or on one of the institution's many closed circuit security cameras, they could stop a lot more illegal activity inside the jail.

"They could probably find larger numbers of all those things if they were properly staffed and trained to look for them," he said.

The Elgin MiddlesexDetention Centre installed a full body scanner in March, with the hope that it would stop people from smuggling drugs into the jail. However, the recent overdose of seven inmates proves that the drugs haven't stopped entering the jail.

The jail records obtained by CBC News suggest "hooping" was one way inmates smuggledrugs into jail, but Lynn Pigeau, who's brother James died of an apparent fentanyl overdose at the jail in January, said herbrother would often say it was the guards themselves who could smugglein the drugs, for the right price.

"We asked him how stuff got in," she said. "He would turn around and he would look at my mom and he would say, 'Mom all you have to do know the right guard and you can get whatever you want.' He said it more than once."

Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre warden Kim Wright was unavailable for comment and the jail's administration referred all questions to the Ontario Ministry of Community Services and Corrections.

"More needs to be done," Ministry spokesman Brent Ross told CBCNews in an email."Staff are trained to be vigilant which includes frequent and thorough searches of any suspected contraband."

"Despite all preventive efforts, there are times when contraband enters our facilities.This is a reality for correctional facilities everywhere.When contraband is found, the ministry investigates the circumstances.When contraband of a criminal nature is found, such as drugs, the police are contacted to investigate," he wrote.

Ross wrote in an email that, in regards to the jail key that Egan has held in trust for the jailfor four months,the ministry does not comment on security matters.