Money laundering and drug smuggling are believed to be at the centre of a major police investigation into alleged corruption at Rimutaka Prison, near Wellington.
The investigation is being led by detectives who focus on financial and organised crime - with at least 70 prison staff brought in for questioning so far.
Corrections Association President, Alan Whitley, told Newshub the investigation is "quite major" with "north of 70 people", including prison managers, interviewed by police as detectives from the Organised Crime Group gather evidence and background information.
A source has told Newshub a number of prison staff have been suspended or have resigned amid the investigation, and that the allegations of corruption also relate to prison management. However, the Department of Corrections has refused to comment on these claims.
Newshub has been told the allegations relate to smuggling of contraband, money laundering and forging of official documents. Police would not get into the specifics of their investigation.
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Detective Inspector Stuart Mills, the Police's National Organised Crime Group Investigations Manager, confirmed a large number of people had been interviewed, but the investigation is ongoing and no charges had been laid at this point.
A spokesperson for Corrections wouldn't comment in any detail, but said Corrections are assisting Police.
"The overwhelming majority of our people act with integrity, honesty and professionalism and those who don't place their colleagues' safety at risk, damage trust in their profession and undermine the integrity of the prison system. They inevitably get found out, and held to account for their actions", the spokesperson said.
Whitley said there had been occasions in the past where corrections staff had been corrupted by inmates and prosecuted. He said there is "no tolerance for it at all". He urged corrections officers to notify their manager or the Association if staff felt they were being manipulated or asked to do favours for inmates.
Late last month, RNZ reported that an inmate from Mt Eden prison, who was part of the Comancheros gang, organised a bar tab for Corrections guards. The staff alerted their managers about the attempt to corrupt them.
A 2017 Inspection report on Rimutaka Prison found 36 percent of inmates there were gang members. The majority had links to the Mongrel Mob.
It also found some issues in the high to medium security unit, including large inmate numbers.
The report said that "gang membership, failure to challenge inappropriate behaviour...limited drug testing and poor security created conditions that allowed some prisoners to engage in violence and standovers".
Police have been working on the investigation at Rimutaka Prison since July, but the Corrections Minister, Kelvin Davis, says the alleged offending began some years ago.
