Illegal drugs and cell phones are smuggled into Ohio prisons by employees, vendors, and visitors. The black market drug trade flourishes inside prisons that are under 24-hour surveillance.
Drug-soaked paper, sold in confetti-sized hits, is now the most commonly found drug in Ohio prisons, fueling violence and accounting for more deaths than any other substance, according to a yearlong investigation by the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal, Canton Repository and The Marshall Project – Cleveland.
Tens of millions of tax dollars have been spent on tighter security, including taller perimeter fences, anti-drone technology and the electronic delivery of mail.
Yet an unknown number of employees and contractors continue to sneak significant amounts of drugs through the front entrance with little consequence.
Click the links below to read each story in our investigation.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: SMUGGLED: An investigation into how Ohio can’t stop state’s deadly prison drug trade
Reporting by Cincinnati Enquirer / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
