An illegal Vietnamese immigrant died at a Victorian prison after a balloon full of methamphetamine he swallowed during an “intimate” visit leaked into his stomach, an inquest found.
The Coroners Court of Victoria on Thursday handed down its findings on the death of Phi Long Dang, 35, at Fulham Correctional Centre on August 4, 2024, while on remand for drug-related charges. He had a court date set for later that month and was due to be deported on his release.
Dang, who had a history of drug use, was living unlawfully in Australia when he was arrested for his role in a criminal syndicate which was distributing heroin in Victoria, and was charged with trafficking a commercial quantity of heroin.
Coroner David Ryan found that on August 3 Dang received a visit from a “female friend” who complied with the privately run prison’s screening process and not found to be carrying contraband, although she was not screened by a drug detection dog or with an ion scanner.
Dang and the woman were then recorded on CCTV spending time at a table in the visitors centre and walking in the yard, and “at times engaged in intimate behaviour”.
“After the friend’s visit and in accordance with policy, Mr Dang was strip searched before he returned to his unit. After he returned to his unit and over the following 18 hours, CCTV cameras recorded that Mr Dang went to the bathroom in his unit on 19 occasions. He also cooked dinner for the other prisoners in his unit,” the coroner stated.
“Mr Dang was last known to be alive in the morning on 4 August 2024 when he was seen laying on his bed in his room and gave a verbal response to custodial staff from his cell during a security walk at 10.11am.”
The next day Dang was found unresponsive on his bed by staff after he did not present for the midday count, and he was pronounced deceased at 12.22pm.
Police did not identify any suspicious circumstances in Dang’s cell, and his friend refused to provide a statement to police and gave a “no comment” interview in November that year.
She was then charged with criminal offences relating to smuggling methamphetamine into the prison, but the charges were discontinued in February this year.
Dr Brian Beer, Forensic Pathologist at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, found no injuries that would have caused or contributed to Dang’s death, but an “intact 20mm diameter balloon was found in the stomach contents which contained methylamphetamine”.
Dr Beer also found evidence of chronic hepatitis, and while he was unable to tell when the methamphetamine was injected, the level detected was “6.2mg/L which is very high”.
“I am satisfied that Mr Dang passed away from drug toxicity after ingesting a balloon containing methylamphetamine. It is likely that the ingestion occurred during his visit with his friend on 3 August 2024,” the coroner wrote.
“The evidence suggests that Mr Dang was unable to pass the balloon over the following hours and some of the contents have leaked into his stomach, leading to cardiac arrythmia and acute heart failure.”
The coroner also accepted Dr Beer’s findings that Dang’s chronic Hepatitis B infection was a secondary contributing factor, and concluded there were “limitations in the operation of barrier control technology at Fulham at the time of Mr Dang’s death which may not have detected contraband being brought into the prison”.
Header image: Fulham Correctional Centre (Google Maps).
