Yellowknife (Apr 27/05) - A Yellowknife woman who tried to smuggle marijuana into the North Slave Correctional Centre was jailed Tuesday - the latest conviction following a rash of attempts to bring drugs into the facility.

Lee-Anne Basil was sentenced to 45 days behind bars after pleading guilty to trafficking in territorial court, a crime her lawyer described as "incredibly stupid."

A jail surveillance camera caught Basil passing a three-gram bag of marijuana to her boyfriend in the visitor's area of the correctional facility. Basil had concealed the drugs in her boot. When police searched the 29-year-old, they discovered a second bag of marijuana.

Basil is the third woman recently convicted of trying to smuggle drugs into a territorial corrections facility.

A woman was sentenced to 60 days in jail after guards caught her passing a shampoo container full of marijuana to an inmate at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre in Hay River.

A Fort Good Hope woman received 90 days in jail for trying to smuggle marijuana into the North Slave facility for her brother. A fourth smuggling case is still before the courts.

"This is certainly something that is escalating," said Crown Attorney Sandra Aitken, who handled the Basil case.

Yellowknifer was unable to obtain the names of the other convicted women from the Crown's office or police.

While drug smuggling has always been a problem for corrections officials, the issue is not a "significant" one at the North Slave Centre, said Bill Pogson, director of corrections for the territorial government.

The jail - home to both territorial and federal inmates - has security systems designed to stem the flow of narcotics, including surveillance cameras and drug scanners, Pogson said.

Jail officials are also developing an internal drug intelligence network, but Pogson declined to discuss the details for security reasons.

Inmates caught with illegal narcotics could face internal charges - which could result in the loss of privileges - or criminal charges, Pogson said.

"Drugs inside a correctional facility can present many problems," Pogson said. In addition to causing violent and paranoid behaviour, drugs are also a form of currency and can lead to conflicts between inmates, Pogson said.

In territorial court, Judge Michel Bourassa told Basil a correctional centre is the "worst place to traffic."

Basil had no previous criminal record.