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How to Make Money in Prison | The Business of Crime - YouTube
Channel: VICE
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The underground economy
is real in prison,
[2]
and people who don't understand it
can get into a lot of trouble.
[6]
Thereâs actual inmates
that create their own store,
[9]
and you would see guys with these
huge necklaces filled with money.
[12]
And Iâd think,
âWhere did they get this money?â
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Hustling is taking place
24 hours a day in prison.
[19]
Guys in there were getting killed,
getting robbed,
[22]
like they would on the street.
[23]
<i>An inmate with a gun,</i>
[25]
<i>another appears to be
shooting up heroin,</i>
[27]
<i>all caught on video.</i>
[29]
<i>They found 14 cell phones,
nine chargers.</i>
[32]
Used to get half a dozen in a cell,
couple of buckets of hooch
[35]
and just wedge the door up
and just have a party all night
[37]
and say, âCome and get us copper.â
[38]
Christmas Eve 2021
wasnât exactly a normal day inside
[43]
for one group of Brazilian prisoners.
[45]
Instead, there were scenes
that looked more like a stag do
[48]
than a grim festive period
behind bars.
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Clearly, the inmates,
based at a menâs lockup in GoiĂąna,
[59]
a city in northeastern Brazil,
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had put some careful planning into
making the best of a bad situation.
[66]
Leaked mobile phone footage
shows a DJ
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and two female dancers
hired for the nightâs entertainment.
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Though prison authorities
launched an immediate investigation,
[75]
questions remain.
[77]
Smuggling in drugs,
[78]
smartphones, and scrappy pieces
of contraband is one thing.
[82]
But people?
[86]
The prison economy
is a strange thing,
[88]
wherever you are in the world.
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[THE BUSINESS OF CRIME]
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Prison life has its own
informal economy,
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and when it comes to
economic inequality,
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being inside isnât always
so dissimilar to the outside world.
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There are still the people
who represent the haves
[106]
as well as the have-nots.
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Naturally, there are
a few key differences.
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Commodities usually take the place
of cash as the dominant currency.
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I realized that there was
a world inside this world.
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$1 was like a value of $20.
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Valuable resources can be traded
in kind or for favors and influence.
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Itâs practically unbelievable
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the stuff that you can
purchase with food.
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Tobacco, tinned food, toiletriesâ
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anything that might make the boredom
and squalor of prison life
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that little bit more bearable.
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It makes economic sense.
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Anything non-perishable,
easily traded,
[143]
and packed into
standard units is ideal.
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What became currency was,
believe it or not, ramen,
[149]
was a noodle.
[151]
Ramen is big business inside
out of necessity
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rather than any great love
of cheap dried noodles.
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Youâve got to have it.
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Youâre going to starve if you donât.
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Cuts to the number
and quality of meals over the years
[164]
have created an obvious problem
in US prisons.
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Ramen and other kinds of
long life food can help plug the gap
[170]
and help mark an inmateâs status.
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You can tell how well
a manâs doing financially
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by how many soups
heâs got in his locker.
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Plus, ramen can also
make a nasty weapon.
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They would wet it
and wrap it with newspaper.
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It hardens.
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You know, when you have
a dry piece of fruit
[189]
or something that gets so hard,
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and it gets to a point where
you start sharpening it,
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and it creates a shank
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where you insert in somebody
and then you could break it in.
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Cigarettes are old news.
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Toiletries and tinned fish
are where it's really at.
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Food seasoning also serves
as a lucrative side hustle
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for enterprising inmates
working the kitchen detail.
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Basic staples like black pepper
and chili powder
[213]
are too easily weaponized in fights
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to be readily available
at the canteen.
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Itâs why the kitchen
is such a coveted job,
[221]
especially if someone
is looking to exploit
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and take advantage of the rules.
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You could sell just about anything
that comes out of that kitchen,
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and thereâs people
that live off that.
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Though maybe it isnât quite right
to ignore tobaccoâs enduring appeal,
[234]
at least in the UK.
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Inflation bites even inside,
[237]
and the costs have ballooned
over the last decade,
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in part due to an often ignored
smoking ban inside prisons.
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In late 2021,
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a single packet of cigarette papers
worth 59p in an ordinary shop
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was worth ÂŁ5,
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at least in one Staffordshire prison.
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One inmate even demanded
ÂŁ4 for a strike of a match.
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Rolling tobacco worth ÂŁ12.50
in a supermarket
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trades for ÂŁ1,000
in several jails across the country.
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<i>Are you alright?</i>
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Drugs form another cornerstone
of the prison economy.
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Itâs hardly news that jails around
the world are awash with narcotics.
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First time I took it,
I smoked it like a spliff,
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and the guy said,
âYeah, thatâs a big mistake.â
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For those who fall into debt
with their dealers,
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the consequences are often severe,
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with beatings and worse
a very real threat.
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I mean, thereâs men,
quite frankly, they get raped,
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they get killed.
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The last decade has seen an explosion
in the prevalence of spice,
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the synthetic cannabis alternative.
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Itâs potent, addictive,
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and often leads to
crippling prison debt.
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What might be
cheap and nasty outside
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is a very different beast in HMP.
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The smooth working
of the prison economy
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can be crucial in reducing tensions.
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In the autumn of 2021,
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Ghanaian ex-prisoner Tetteh Teye
took to the radio
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to talk up the importance of weed
in the countryâs jails.
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The authorities, he claimed,
were well aware of the booming trade
[333]
and often turned a blind eye.
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The system required
a steady supply to inmates,
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who needed it to
keep them in good spirits.
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Without it, violence often rises.
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The Ghanaian press recently reported
several cases of prison guards
[349]
bringing in Indian hemp,
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which is then sold on to prisoners,
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who in turn could sell it
to fellow inmates.
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The prison economy isnât so different
from that in the outside world.
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Money talks.
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Where thereâs a will,
thereâs generally a way,
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even behind bars.
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Media reports suggest at least
one employee was sacked
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for his part in the Brazilian
Christmas party,
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while three inmates have been
transferred to other institutions.
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According to embarrassed authorities,
the investigation is still ongoing.
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