From wings to weed, MDOC announces contraband bust

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Photo courtesy of MDOC

Earlier this week, corrections officials at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution were able to intercept a large amount of contraband.

According to the Department of Corrections (MDOC), new technology alerted guards to the presence of 25 packages that had been thrown across a remote section of the prison�s perimeter fence around 1:30 Monday morning. Inside of the packages was a wide variety of items that included drugs, cell phones and even chicken wings. In an effort to clear the 18-foot high fence, the unidentified smugglers sewed some of the contraband into footballs.

Among the contraband seized, officials found:

  • 4 pounds of marijuana
  • 20 pounds of tobacco and rolling papers
  • 38 cellphones, chargers and Blue Tooth earbuds
  • An assortment of cigars
  • Over-the-counter cold medications
  • 10 cans of snuff
  • Several packs of cigarettes and lighters
  • 1 scale
  • 1 head scarf
  • 7 pounds of chicken wings.

�We are making Mississippi prisons safer for inmates and Corrections officers by stopping the flow of contraband,” MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain said. �Gang leaders use contraband as a way to control other inmates and we�re choking off their operations they�ve used for decades to control prisons.� Now we�re installing and using the latest security systems, drones overhead, and cameras and scanners everywhere plus we�re recruiting and hiring the best and brightest criminal justice graduates. Governor Reeves wants us to bring Mississippi Corrections into the 21st Century and we are.�

SMCI Superintendent Andrew Mills said Security Chief Michael McLendon spotted the slow-moving vehicle driven by the smugglers and a search is underway by state and local law enforcement.

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