From the HERE City State Desk
Officers at Baraga Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula broke up a drug smuggling plot that has implicated several people, including inmates and a Muskegon woman, the Michigan Department of Corrections announced Wednesday.
The department said that on Jan. 18, a woman arrived at the maximum-security prison claiming to have a scheduled visit with an incarcerated man. After she was told no visit was scheduled, she used the lobby restroom and left the grounds.
Officers who noticed her suspicious behavior searched the restroom and found a package containing K2, high-potency THC wax and suboxone strips. Inspectors and officers removed the drugs and left a decoy package in its place. When a prisoner porter began his work shift the next morning, he picked up the decoy and tried to hide it, and custody staff detained him immediately.
Corrections investigators referred the case to Michigan State Police. Over several months, investigators found the scheme went beyond a single smuggling attempt and identified several people allegedly involved, including the porter, other prisoners and associates outside the prison.
Corrections Director Heidi Washington said contraband today is easier to hide and deliver than ever, and that she expects those involved to be held accountable.
The department said the case remains under investigation and it will not release the names of suspects at this time. It credited body scanners, package scanners and legal mail verification with helping deter smuggling attempts.