Warning to women smuggling drugs into jail

A crackdown on visitors to NSW prisons has caught a number of women trying to smuggle drugs to inmates.

Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) officers searched a record 97,000 visitors in 2013, leading to 173 people being charged and 583 being denied entry.

The CSNSW does not keep figures on the sex of visitors caught with banned items, but Commissioner Peter Severin said many were women, including young mothers.

"We know many of these visitors are often pressured into bringing in the drugs for their fathers, sons, husbands or boyfriends," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr Severin said people smuggling drugs face criminal charges and being banned from visiting inmates for up to two years.

"I cannot warn these women strongly enough, the price they pay is far too high," he said.

Officers seized 213 grams of powder, 323 grams of cannabis and 1063 tablets from prison visitors last year.

Mr Severin said smuggling banned items and substances into prisons caused a "serious threat to the safety and security of our correctional centres, staff and inmates" and officers would show "no tolerance".