Murderer probed after substance smuggled into Portlaoise Prison saw 11 lags rushed to hospital in overdose incident
A CONVICTED murderer who had a recent period of temporary release is being probed over the smuggling of a substance into a jail on which 11 lags overdosed this week.
All of the inmates rushed from Portlaoise Prison to hospital on Tuesday, including a gangland killer and a cocaine lab boss, have now been returned to the Co Laois lock-up.
Six were brought back on Wednesday, while sources confirmed that the rest were returned today.
The Irish Prison Service is working closely with the gardai after the mayhem which unfolded at the C-wing in the State's maximum security prison.
One of the main lines of inquiry is that a convicted murderer may have managed to bring the deadly substance — suspected to be a synthetic opioid — into Portlaoise Prison last weekend.
However, he was not one of the 11 men who was hospitalised.
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A source confirmed: "This individual is now being looked at for bringing it into the prison so investigations are ongoing there."
Cops are investigating if anyone else was on a period of release.
Lags had nicknamed the drug which caused the overdoses as 'Nike'.
Some of the lags became "extremely violent" after taking the substance, and when brought to hospital, a number had to be restrained.
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Killer and coke lab boss among hospitalised
One who took the drug also shaved off his eyebrows in prison before he was rushed to Portlaoise Hospital, senior sources told us.
Among those hospitalised were gangland killer Peter Kenny and cocaine lab boss Tony McInerney.
Remorseless Kenny is serving a life-sentence for the murder of drug dealer John Carroll in a Dublin pub in February 2009.
Carroll, a father of three, was blasted to death while socialising in Grumpy Jack's pub in the Coombe.
Urgent drug alert
McInerney is also serving sentences totalling 27 years for attempted murder in 2020 and for running a cocaine lab in Clare.
The incident came less than a month after the IPS issued an urgent drug alert to all prisons about a "nitazene-type substance" following a fatal overdose in Mountjoy.
The Prison Officers' Association has written to Justice Minister Helen McEntee following the latest incident behind bars.
It pointed towards a number of incidents in recent months, including a prison officer's home being petrol bombed and drones delivering drug packages with drugs, weapons and phones.
'Chronically overcrowded'
The letter said that the system is "chronically overcrowded" with the highest numbers ever recorded in custody.
The POA repeatedly warned about how overcrowding would lead to major incidents.
It added: "You must be aware at this juncture that the prison system is on the verge of collapse if no action is taken."