Correction officers intercept large meat cleaver mailed to inmate at Riverside jail

An Amazon package addressed to an inmate that was delivered to the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverside last week contained a meat cleaver, according to the Suffolk County Sheriff.

The Sheriff’s Office correction officers intercepted the dangerous weapon during inspection and it was confiscated. Any other allowable items were delivered to the inmate, the sheriff said.

All packages sent to the facility are opened and inspected as per the state’s minimum standards and regulations for management of county jails and penitentiaries.

Sheriff Errol Toulon said while an item such a the meat cleaver was easy to detect, he thanked his staff for careful working in preventing smaller dangerous weapons and drugs from entering the facility through the mail.

“Careful inspection and processing of all mail and packages before they enter the correctional facility is critical,” he said in a press release. “Any dangerous item, let alone a large knife, that makes its way into the facility could be deadly for staff and inmates alike.”

Last week, the Sheriff’s Office announced three inmates and five visitors to the jail were charged in a conspiracy to traffic drugs through the jail through mail and jail visitations. The suspects faced a total of 25 felonies and 12 misdemeanors.