Commissioner: Gregory C. Dozier

Director of Public Affairs: Joan Heath

Nearly 7,500 items seized

FORSYTH, Ga. –  As part of ongoing efforts to fight contraband from entering our facilities, the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) seized a total of 7,353 contraband items during the second quarter of 2018. The agency is continuously making improvements and enhancements of our front-line and technological methods, as well as utilizing full facility shakedowns to fight this problem.   

“It is because of the hard work of our officers and staff that we were able to interdict almost 7,500 items of contraband from entering or remaining inside the walls of our facilities,” said Commissioner Gregory C. Dozier. “We are unwavering in our fight to stay tough on crime from within and will continue to strengthen and raise the bar on our efforts.”

In addition to shakedowns, the GDC Office of Professional Standards applied for and was awarded a court order to terminate the service of 46 contraband cell phones that were in operation inside of Macon State Prison.  This was the first known mass cell phone shut-down effort an agency has completed to fight the ongoing effort to keep contraband out of the hands of offenders. 

Through the collaboration of our Office of Professional Standards, GDC Tactical Squads and K9 Units, the following items were confiscated between April and June 2018:

  • 1,582 cell phones
  • 545 cell phone chargers
  • 148 cell phone accessories
  • 2,644 handmade weapons
  • 7,011.50 grams of marijuana (352 bags/balloons)
  • 30,966.37 grams of tobacco (734 bags/balloons)
  • 1,110.54 grams of methamphetamine (137 bags/balloons)
  • 3 grams of cocaine (1 bags/balloons)
  • 6,786 ounces of alcohol (308 bottles)
  • 851 pills
  • 26 syringes
  • 25 SIM/SD cards

The GDC also utilized shakedown operations to detect 2,162 items in the second quarter of 2018. A total of 24 shakedowns were completed at 17 of the 33 state prisons.

Second quarter shakedown seizures included:

  • 295 cell phones
  • 227 cell phone chargers
  • 1,212 handmade weapons
  • 535.59 grams of marijuana (78 occurrences)
  • 1,492.28 grams of tobacco (50 occurrences)
  • 368.1 grams of methamphetamine (24 occurrences)
  • 1440 ounces of homemade alcohol (7 occurrences)
  • 251 unidentified pills
  • 11 syringes
  •  7 SIM/SD card

About the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC)

The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) has one of the largest prison systems in the U.S. and is responsible for supervising nearly 52,000 state prisoners. It is the largest law enforcement agency in the state with approximately 10,500 employees. For more information on the GDC, call 478-992-5247 or visit https://gdc.georgia.gov.

Contact

Manager of Communications Lori Benoit

[email protected]