Commissioner: Gregory C. Dozier

Director of Public Affairs: Joan Heath

Close to 8,000 items seized

FORSYTH, Ga. – Our fight against contraband is a continuous. In our efforts to remove illegal contraband from inside the walls of our facilities, the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) seized a total of 7,912 contraband items in the second quarter of 2017. Continuous improvements and enhancements of our front line and technological methods, as well as full facility shakedowns, provides our agency the ability to fight this problem.

“It is shocking to know that almost 8,000 items of contraband made their way inside the walls of our facilities; however, I am extremely proud of our officers and staff who work countless hours to find and remove these items from our prisons,” said Commissioner Gregory C. Dozier. “We are steadfast in our ‘fight to be tough from within’ and will continue to hold those who break the law accountable for their actions.”

Through the collaboration of our Office of Professional Standards, GDC Tactical Squads and K9 Units, the following items were confiscated between April and June 2017:

  • 1,515 cell phones
  • 728 cell phone chargers
  • 1,628 handmade weapons
  • 7,307.77 grams of marijuana (422 bags/balloons)
  • 61,330.82 grams of tobacco (2,680 bags/balloons)
  • 676.62 grams of methamphetamine (152 bags/balloons)
  • 708 pills 
  • 6,672.4 ounces of alcohol (33 bottles)
  • 31 syringes
  • 15 SIM/SD cards 

The GDC also utilized shakedown operations to detect 632 items in the second quarter of 2017. A total of six shakedowns were completed at nine of the 33 state prisons.

Second quarter shakedown seizures included:

  • 169 handmade weapons
  • 131 cell phones
  • 122 cell phone chargers
  • 448.8 grams of tobacco (28 instances)
  • 361.7 grams of marijuana (40 instances)
  • 14 grams of methamphetamine (3 instances)
  • 129 unidentified pills
  • 1 Green Dot card
  • 1 Pay Pal number
  • 960 ounces of homemade alcohol (4 instances)
  • 2 SIM/SD cards
  • 1 FitBit Blaze
  • 1 Smart Watch

For more information on the GDC call 478-992-5247 or visit https://gdc.georgia.gov.