By Sarah Sinning
OKLAHOMA CITY — Six men, including four inmates, have been charged for their alleged involvement in a contraband smuggling operation at the Oklahoma County Detention Center, News 9 reports.
According to investigators, cellmates on the facility’s 10th floor used improvised tools to carve a hole in the wall overlooking the employee parking lot. They would then lower a rope made from bed sheets to the ground, where accomplices would attach a range of prohibited items.
After a detention officer on break spotted one of these exchanges, a search of the cell revealed 23 phones, half a pound of marijuana, a pound of tobacco, a syringe, and other items.
To avoid detection during searches, said jail spokesperson Mark Opgrande, the inmates would use a “paste” to cover the hole.
“Anyone who knows this building knows that there’s always been a problem over the years of being able to just dig a hole outside the building,” Opgrande said. “It’s a constant struggle.”
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