Pretty regularly the Oklahoma Department of Corrections staff at the prison in my county spots somebody tossing a duct tape-wrapped package over the fence. We currently have three of these mopes booked into our jail. The total for the year so far is five. These packages always have cell phones in with the tobacco, mj and meth.

It would seem that the obvious solution to this would be to put up cell phone blockers to keep cons from setting up these deals, but that's prohibited by the FCC as it might shut down 911 calls to the surrounding area (the prison here is just on the edge of a town).

But that's not why I started this thread...I probably shouldn't be surprised, but last night on Amazon I stumbled across "prison phones" being offered for sale. Tiny, miniature cell phones probably just the right size to put "up the safe". One question posted by a potential buyer even asked if that particular model was "flushable"...

So much for "make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard"...

How can a pedestrian get close enough to chuck a phone over the fence?

If it's rural, are you saying there's a sidewalk along the fences and open exercise yards?

I heard they also using drones to deliver contraband over the fences.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I heard they also using drones to deliver contraband over the fences.

And Prison Guards (I'm not politically correct) bringing them in and selling them to the prisoners.

John1, will you send me a link? Disregard, that was easy enough to find. People actually asking in the comments if it is flushable…lol.

I do IA investigations in the prison system and this would be good to educate our gatehouse staff if they aren’t already aware.

As a side note, a funny investigation involving a cellphone. An inmate had a family member CashApp a guard $100 to use his cell phone for 15 minutes. The inmate used it to go Facebook Live and do a rap video and wouldn’t give the phone back. The guard began beating the inmate out of camera view, but it was all captured and recorded on the cell phone camera. Slam dunk case.

ETA: So far it looks like all of the really small ones are either 2G or 3G which has been phased out in the US. The only other way an inmate could use it is via Bluetooth to a willing guard who snuck in their own phone.

You don't need one of those tiny phones if you're brave enough..........

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I heard they also using drones to deliver contraband over the fences.

And Prison Guards (I'm not politically correct) bringing them in and selling them to the prisoners.

Yes that is the most common way. I knew someone that is now doing 3 years for a phone and meth. Pretty stupid thing to do.

In the federal system, I/A will investigate, and the Assistant United States Attorney will prosecute. I've seen people get relatively lengthy sentences for introduction of contraband.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-w...ast-nine-months-drug
Check this out. It’a bad and it’s everywhere.


Western District of Oklahoma
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Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of Oklahoma
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 27, 2023
275 Convicted in Four Separate Investigations Concluded Within Last Nine Months Of Drug Trafficking Networks Directed from Oklahoma State Prisons Using Contraband Cell Phones

1,061 Pounds of Drugs and 393 Firearms Removed Off Streets and $1.3 Million Taken Away from Drug Traffickers

OKLAHOMA CITY – Over the last nine months, numerous federal, state, and local investigators and prosecutors have concluded their fourth unrelated long-term investigation and prosecution of separate drug trafficking networks being directed from inside Oklahoma state prisons using contraband cell phones, announced United States Attorney Robert J. Troester. Details of the four investigations are described more completely in the following press releases:

January 25, 2023 – 60 Southside Locos Gang Members and Associates Convicted for Drug Trafficking Operation Directed from Oklahoma State Prisons
January 9, 2023 - 69 Universal Aryan Brotherhood Gang Members and Associates Convicted During Multi-Year Investigation into Their Drug Trafficking of Methamphetamine
July 15, 2022 - 21 Defendants Convicted During Three-Year Investigation Into Drug Trafficking and Criminal Activities Led by Inmates Inside State Prison Walls Using Contraband Cell Phones
April 5, 2022 - 125 Convicted During Five-Year Investigation That Functionally Dismantled the Irish Mob Gang’s Drug Trafficking and Criminal Activities
Together, these four investigations have yielded the following combined results:

275 defendants were convicted, including multiple defendants who either ordered or participated in acts of violence, such as witness retaliation, witness tampering, shootings, kidnappings, and death threats against prosecutors, as a part of these conspiracies;
30 of the defendants were incarcerated in Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) facilities while directing these often-violent drug trafficking networks through use of contraband cell phones;
Four corrections workers at the ODOC and county level were prosecuted for crimes including conspiring to distribute drugs inside correctional facilities, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and conspiring to launder drug money;
1,061 pounds of methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine were removed from the streets;
393 firearms were seized; and
$1.335 million in cash was seized by law enforcement.
"Being behind bars did not stop state inmates in four separate criminal organizations from accessing contraband cell phones to continue directing their drug trafficking and violent networks through associates outside prison walls," said United States Attorney Robert J. Troester. "Now, 275 dangerous criminals have been held accountable, more than a half-ton of poisonous drugs and 393 firearms have been removed from the streets, and $1.3 million in cash has been taken away from drug traffickers. I commend the dedicated efforts by law enforcement and the prosecutors who worked these investigations and cases."

"The FBI and our law enforcement partners have worked relentlessly over the last several years to disrupt the violence and drug trafficking activity plaguing our state," said FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Gray. "We are all committed to eliminating the threat of gang activity, regardless of where it takes place, to make Oklahoma communities safer for our citizens."

"Drug trafficking, directed from inside our prisons systems, impacts the safety and security of all Oklahomans," said Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Dallas Field Division, who oversees operations in Oklahoma. "These joint federal investigations should send a strong message that DEA and our federal partners will continue to identify, disrupt and destroy these criminal groups from wherever they operate."

"The collaborative efforts of the law enforcement agencies involved in these investigations are another step in the right direction to eradicate the trafficking of illicit drugs and violent crime involving transnational criminal gangs in Oklahoma," said Robert Melton, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the HSI Dallas - Oklahoma and Texas Panhandle Division. "Our intent is clear; we will aggressively pursue prosecution for anyone who pushes these deadly substances to keep them from poisoning and destroying our communities."

"The financial expertise of IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agents was critical in detecting and tracing money laundering transactions of the various criminal organizations during the four separate investigations," said Christopher J. Altemus Jr., IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Field Office. "The men and women of IRS-CI worked with federal and state agencies to expose the profits of these organizations, helping seize more than $1.3 million. This joint effort demonstrates our resolve to hold criminals accountable for their actions and disrupt their ability to conduct illegal activities."

"ATF is proud to stand next to our partners as we all continue the fight against violent crime across Oklahoma. These cases highlight what can be done when we all work together to go after the worst of the worst. Whether you are playing gangster on the inside or the outside of a jail, you will be caught. Our network is bigger than yours," stated ATF Dallas Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II.

"The United States Marshals Service is committed to join forces with federal, city, and state law enforcement partners to hold offenders accountable and protect public safety," said Johnny Kuhlman, United States Marshal for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma City Police Chief Wade Gourley said, "This case demonstrates that an incarcerated violent offender can still present a threat to public safety. We are honored to be a part of operations such as these, that serve to better protect the citizens of our community."

These investigations were led by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Homeland Security Investigations, which received valuable assistance from the Oklahoma City Police Department; the United States Marshals Service; Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General; the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics; the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office; the Oklahoma Highway Patrol; the District 2 Drug Task Force; the District 6 Drug Task Force; the Sallisaw Police Department; the Moore Police Department; and the Edmond Police Department.

The prosecutions arising out of these four investigations were handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David McCrary, Tom Snyder, Jason Harley, Chelsie Pratt, Nick Coffey, Travis Leverett, Steven Creager, David Petermann, Nick Patterson, and Kerry Blackburn, with assistance from Paralegals Jenifer Rowe and Linda Nixon.

These prosecutions are also part of multiple Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Component(s):
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces
USAO - Oklahoma, Western
Updated January 27, 2023

quote:

How can a pedestrian get close enough to chuck a phone over the fence?

The third guy we booked in this year had crawled under an outer fence dragging a duffle bag full of contraband (yeah, he broke INTO prison).

Part of the set up (usually through a 3rd party) has directions for the thrower on where to go to make the toss.

I believe the town residents spot a suspicious vehicle late at night or in the early morning and call the local PD, other times the prison COs spot them. There have been some foot pursuits through fields in the area from those calls. At the SO we don't hear about the packages tossed in and then found by prison staff, just the ones that end in an arrest. They got one one Saturday and another one on Sunday.

What would happen if a quarter pound of fentanyl some how got in too the gen pop ?
Be a shame if they had to cremate half the bad guys.

I recently watched a video on these phones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xouEd5cVE8

To the extent that ANY of the "Outrageous pay! Easy working conditions!" chorus might be true in some sectors of the federal government, it sure as hell isn't in BOP. Comparatively junior COs (GS-6, GS-7) aren't getting rich without working their asses off on overtime, and assaults on / murders of staff have spiked because of staff shortages and the BOP's habit of designating very violent offenders to facilities WAY below their appropriate security/custody levels.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in one of my favorite districts used to have an absolute "zero mercy" rule for any kind of smuggling cases, and even less mercy for staff involved in smuggling. Thing is, beyond the corruption/public trust angle, apparently people DO get constantly stabbed up or stomped over that "soft contraband" like cell phones or tobacco. Their theory was that honest staff had a hard enough time without dealing with inmate-on-inmate assaults involving contraband cigarettes, or staff getting sliced up because they were about to find the the hidden cell phone, or the cell phone being used arrange intimidation outside the walls. It made sense.

Why aren't prisons built like large Faraday cages?

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I heard they also using drones to deliver contraband over the fences.

And Prison Guards (I'm not politically correct) bringing them in and selling them to the prisoners.

Yes that is the most common way. I knew someone that is now doing 3 years for a phone and meth. Pretty stupid thing to do.

My dad worked at a Jail before retiring. He had a coworker that is now behind bars for doing just that. He got caught when someone found their drop spot in the kitchen.

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:
John1, will you send me a link? Disregard, that was easy enough to find. People actually asking in the comments if it is flushable…lol.

I do IA investigations in the prison system and this would be good to educate our gatehouse staff if they aren’t already aware.

As a side note, a funny investigation involving a cellphone. An inmate had a family member CashApp a guard $100 to use his cell phone for 15 minutes. The inmate used it to go Facebook Live and do a rap video and wouldn’t give the phone back. The guard began beating the inmate out of camera view, but it was all captured and recorded on the cell phone camera. Slam dunk case.

ETA: So far it looks like all of the really small ones are either 2G or 3G which has been phased out in the US. The only other way an inmate could use it is via Bluetooth to a willing guard who snuck in their own phone.

My favorite comment was;

Fits up ass better than iPhone 12
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2022
Color: Black
The size is perfect and feels good. Strongly recommend.

An Asian gentleman told me that pretty much nothing about our prison is functionally sound.

He claimed that per capita, the prisons over there are a deterrent.

He said criminals will leave the country before going to their prisons, if they can get away.

It's more than a bad mark on your permanent record.

Former head of Nissan would concur,bendable.

quote:

Originally posted by Skull Leader:
Why aren't prisons built like large Faraday cages?

Absolutely. It's not like it hasn't been done before. I've done a job in a large building that was a Faraday cage as it was a High Security building.