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Gang bosses are infiltrating jails by paying people with no criminal record to become prison officers and act as 'sleeper' agents for their drug smuggling operations, the chief inspector of prisons has warned.
Charlie Taylor said 'very sophisticated organised crime groups' were employing so-called clean skins to take roles inside jails - where drugs are three times more expensive than on the streets.
Former prison guards told MailOnline that a crisis in recruitment and retention is being exploited by organised criminals as a chance to plant their own associates inside jails or corrupt existing officers.
Linda Sage, a criminal psychologist with 40 years' experience inside prisons, said offenders were 'skillful' at exploiting social links with employees' families and friends while also deploying threats and bribery.
Mr Taylor said he has become 'increasingly concerned' about the amount of drugs that are finding their way into prisons. In a recent inspection of HMP Hindley, near Wigan, more than half of inmates tested positive for illicit substances.
Mental health nursing assistant Amy Hatfield 'flooded' HMP Lindholme in South Yorkshire with drugs after being recruited by her prisoner lover Joseph Whittingham
A recent inspection of HMP Hindley near Wigan found more than half of inmates tested positive for illicit substances. Pictured are inmates 'partying' at the prison published in 2018
He described in a blog how gangs were 'effectively putting a sleeper into a prison – someone who has no criminal record, has no direct connections, and applies for a job as a prison officer'.
These officers would then 'become established and be able to begin to bring drugs into the jail having worked out where the weaknesses are in any security systems in place'.
There have been a series of recent prosecutions of prison staff for smuggling drugs into prisons, although no evidence has been presented to show they were recruited by gangs before taking their jobs.
Last year saw the prosecution of the UK's biggest prison drug-smuggling gang at HMP Lindholme in South Yorkshire, which mental health nurse Amy Hatfield 'flooded' with more than £1million worth of narcotics after being recruited by her inmate lover Joseph Whittingham.
In November, prison officer Martin Mills admitted sneaking drugs inside boxes of cereal into HMP Hewell in Worcestershire - working as part of a conspiracy alongside at least eight other people.
And in December, prison employability tutor Jason Taylor was jailed for 32 months after bringing sheets of paper infused with spice into HMP Berwyn in Wrexham - where no less than 18 female staff have had affairs with inmates.
Vanessa Frake, former Head of Security at Wormwood Scrubs and author of best-selling book, The Governor, said 'poor recruitment techniques' were partly to blame for the surge of drug use behind bars.
She told MailOnline: 'The problem is exacerbated by poor recruitment techniques, fewer people wanting to join a crumbling service, overcrowding, staff shortages and gangs taking advantage of all this.
'When I worked at Scrubs we believed people would get themselves into prison on short sentences with drugs concealed inside them to deal.
'But then, recruitment techniques were much better and so the likelihood of staff being specifically recruited were much less likely.'
One former prison officer said the need to recruit staff to a failing service had made the admissions criteria more lax.
Hatfield smuggled spice into HMP Lindholme hidden inside these bottles of lemon Ribena
The corrupt prison staffer caught on CCTV arriving at the jail with drugs worth around £1million
This clip - which emerged last year - shows inmates appearing to smoke cannabis at HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire
Speaking to MailOnline on condition of anonymity, he said: 'When I joined you had to sit an entrance exam and go through an interview, followed by three weeks being shadowed staff taking notes and nine weeks at a residential Prison
