Detention facilities should allow inmates to make overseas calls and must crack down on drug smuggling into jails, a coroner’s inquest has recommended.

Those were two of the six recommendations the jury made at the inquest in the death of Francisco Romero Astorga, an immigration detainee suffering from depression and substance abuse.

The three-woman, two-man panel did not make any recommendations on the detention practices of the Canada Border Services Agency as the coroner’s office restricted the scope of the inquiry to the events after Astorga was arrested and held at the Maplehurst Correctional Centre, a maximum security detention facility in Milton.

The border agency uses provincial jails to house detainees when there is an overflow at its own holding centres or when a detainee poses dangers to others.

Astorga, a 39-year-old Chilean, was held in custody for an immigration violation for 59 days and died of an overdose of fentanyl and methamphetamine on March 13, 2016 while in custody. On Friday, the jury concluded the death was an accident.

Although Romero’s family said they were happy with the jury recommendations, they said there are still unanswered questions.

“The access to phones and communication with family was the main thing. Everything started from a phone call for support,” said Esteban Romero Astorga, brother of the deceased, after the jury delivered its verdict in Milton.

“Why did they charge a mentally ill man and put him in a maximum security jail?” asked the younger Romero, who flew in and sat through the weeklong inquiry.

Francisco Romero Astorga first visited Canada in 1996 and went underground after abandoning his asylum claim. He worked as a baker before he voluntarily left Canada in 2002.

With the money he saved, he opened a nightclub in Chile and worked in restaurants and in construction before coming back to Canada on Nov. 1, 2015. His last contact with his family was through Facebook before Christmas that year.

The inquest heard he was intercepted by border officials at Pearson airport but walked out of the interview room without anyone noticing. A warrant was issued. He was arrested by Peel police after he was caught stealing food at a Walmart. He was handed over to CBSA on Jan. 13 and held until his death.

He told authorities he suffered from depression and was suicidal, and was initially placed in segregation before being transferred into a regular cell, according to a submission from the family’s lawyers at the inquest.

During the inquest, the jury heard about the prevalence of drug smuggling into detention facilities and substance abuse among inmates.

The inquest was also told that the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Service policy was that phone calls were not permitted to cellphones or any numbers outside North America.

After his death, a coroner’s investigation statement revealed police found in Romero’s cell a homemade “fish” device used to transport drugs and contraband from cell to cell, as well as a “slim-jim” used to contain and secrete drugs within the body.

“We know there are serious drug problems in Ontario’s jail system,” lawyer Simon Wallace, who represented the family along with counsel Shane Martinez, said after the verdict was delivered.

“We are glad the jury recognized that as well. We hope using new drug (possession) detection technology can reduce the chances of this from happening. While technology is helpful, it’s important to ensure we have enough support and educational programs for prisoners struggling with drug and mental health problems.”

Martinez said he is still deeply concerned with the province’s ability to keep inmates safe.

“We need to ask ourselves why this preventable tragedy was allowed to happen . . . And why it is still reluctant — despite so many deaths — to implement more common sense measures that would protect the most vulnerable,” said Martinez.

Esteban Romero Astorga, an executive with a hotel chain in Dubai, said he and his big brother, along with their two sisters, were raised in a middle-class household by their father, a career navy officer, and loving homemaker mother.

“We are all very close. Francisco loved adventures. I remember after his first trip to Canada, he couldn’t stop talking about what a great county it was and how nice Canadians were. That’s why he wanted to go back,” a sobbing Romero told the Star in an interview.

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“He said he wanted to live and die in Canada. It became true and he did die here.”

The inquest jury also recommended the creation of a drug/contraband security committee among corrections officials to enhance security measures against trafficking, a review of the meal “hatches” under cell doors to prevent inmates from passing items through them and stronger enforcement of signing and dating internal forms among jail officials for accountability purposes.

A ministry spokesperson said officials will review the recommendations and respond appropriately.

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