Deep fryer, drugs, money and more found in MDOC shakedown
The searches happened at multiple correctional facilities across Mississippi.
MISSISSIPPI (WLOX) - Prison officials in Mississippi are continuing efforts to find and remove contraband in facilities throughout the Magnolia State.
Aside from drugs, cell phones, and cigarettes, those searches have turned up some more interesting items, like a large deep fryer.
According to Mississippi Department of Corrections, a mixture of facilities were searched, including George County Community Work Center, Harrison County Community Work Center, and South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Greene County, which is where the deep fryer was found.
Other illegal items that were found include cash, assorted pills, shanks, cellphones and cellphone-related items, tobacco and tobacco-related items, marijuana, spice, crystal methamphetamine, portable radios, and assorted jewelry.
At Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs, guards also found a can of paint primer and a can of paint, as well as lighters, bottles of tattoo ink, a tattoo gun, portable radios, meth, and electronic cigarettes.
“Random large-scale shakedowns are one of the measures among our aggressive steps to limit the flow of contraband in our prison system,” Corrections Commissioner Pelicia E. Hall said. “We recognize that completely getting rid of all the contraband at any one facility is unlikely, but we are not letting up in our efforts because cellphones or shanks in the hands of incarcerated residents are a threat to public safety.”
Commissioner Hall said facilities where large amounts of contraband items are found are expected to provide corrective action plans to address the issue. “We do not intend to exempt any facility nor do we plan to provide advanced notice,” she said.
The contraband searches took place between March 15 and April 17.
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