Norwegian MP proposes criminal penalties for prison phone smuggling

A leaked video showing inmates freely using mobile phones inside Oslo Prison has prompted calls for stricter penalties, with Labour Party MP Farukh Qureshi proposing to make phone smuggling a criminal offence, Dagbladet reports.

Qureshi, a former prison officer and current member of the Storting’s Justice Committee, described the footage—showing multiple inmates gathered in a cell while being filmed—as “unacceptable.” “We cannot tolerate these conditions in Norwegian prisons. Period. I am completely shocked by what I see,” he told the newspaper.

The video, shared on social media by an inmate who was later transferred, had no consequences for those involved. According to Qureshi, this lack of accountability highlights a systemic issue: smuggling phones into prisons currently carries no legal penalties, unlike drug trafficking.

Prison officer Karoline, a union representative who asked not to be fully named, showed Dagbladet confiscated phones hidden in caviar tubes, playing card decks, bread loaves, jam jars, and even inside butter containers. “We always catch the wrong people with phones—not those calling their kids to say goodnight, but gang members running operations from inside,” she said. “They have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Norway’s Criminal Care Service (Kriminalomsorgen) reported 272 phones seized in prisons in 2024, up from 181 the previous year, but acknowledged the problem is likely far larger. Authorities suspect phones are used to plan crimes, intimidate witnesses, and even recruit youth into criminal networks. Police noted in their 2026 threat assessment that gangs maintain drug operations from prison using smuggled devices.

Under current rules, inmates caught with phones face temporary exclusion from communal activities or transfer to another unit—measures Karoline called “zero-risk” deterrents. Qureshi argued the lack of consequences enables serious criminal activity: “These phones are used to influence witnesses and sustain crime. In the worst cases, they’re used to pull children into gangs. That alone shows the danger.”

Both Qureshi and Karoline stressed that phones confer status in prison, describing them as “big business” for inmates who bypass restrictions to stay connected to outside networks. “It’s a power tool,” Karoline said. “And we’re failing to stop the wrong people from getting their hands on them.”