Contraband smuggling continues to be a problem at prisons across the state of California and in Kings County, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

"It's a significant problem and something we've been monitoring for a few years," said Paul Verke, a CDCR spokesman. "For example, in 2007, we knew cell phones were becoming an issue in prisons. We discovered nearly 1,400 cell phones in prisons state wide. Then in 2008, that number doubled on us."

The term "contraband" is a little misleading. To some, "contraband" is just another word for drugs. But to correctional officers across the state, contraband can include anything from weapons and narcotics to cell phones and pornography.

The Department of Corrections set up a new response system to combat the recent surge in prison smuggling. The Warden's Advisory Group is an organization dedicated to providing guidance to senior prison staff statewide on how to deal with inmate issues.

First order of business for this group was to standardize the reports used to alert CDCR of contraband issues. Now, according to Verke, the state receives statistics every month on what gets found in prison cells.

"All contraband is bad, whether it is narcotics or weapons or cell phones," Verke said. "We're going after all of it, regardless of what the item is."

Locally, underground smuggling has been a persistent issue for law enforcement to deal with.

Two men were arrested at Avenal State Prison on Wednesday for driving around the facility at night with a large quantity of marijuana and several knives in their pickup truck.

"We saw a suspicious vehicle driving around on the grounds, so we stopped it and conducted a search," ASP Lt. John Parreira said. "Turns out one of the guys was a parolee and the other was an ex-felon."

Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations says that it is felony for any former prison inmate to come on institution property for any reason without the approval of the facility head.

Arrested were Shane Gregory Dyc and Rufus Hernandez Jr. of Bakersfield. Both men were booked into the Kings County Jail on separate bails of $100,000 for various charges related to smuggling drugs and weapons into a correctional institution.

Parreira says investigators are not sure if the two suspects intended to leave the contraband for inmates to find.

"We're certainly looking into that, but we don't know at this time," he said.

A couple in their 60s were arrested on Saturday morning for trying to slip more than 9 grams of marijuana into California State Prison Corcoran.

"These arrests were part of an investigation we've been following up on," Prison spokesperson Sabrina Johnson said. "Search warrants were served on the suspects, so this wasn't just a case of something found randomly."

Jennie and Harold Goodson were arrested on suspicion of nine different drug charges, along with conspiring to commit a crime. The pair from Oroville were booked into the Kings County Jail in lieu of $220,000 bail each.

"We believe they were trying to smuggle the marijuana in to a specific inmate," Johnson said. "They have a family member incarcerated here, though there appear to be a few different inmates who may have been involved."

Johnson said the investigation began after suspicious phone calls and letters were exchanged between the inmates and the couple. State law says that all inmate mail and telephone calls can be monitored for suspicious activity by detention facility staff.

But while smuggling arrests have been numerous, there may be hope for changing these trends.

Assistant Sheriff Brian Wheat says contraband at the Kings County Jail diminished greatly when they introduced no-contact visitation procedures.

Visitors at the Kings County Jail are ushered into a large room with dozens of steel cabinets, reminiscent of phone booths. Each cabinet is hooked up to a video display and a telephone, which allows the visitor and the inmate to both see each other and communicate -- without fear of anything being smuggled past security.

"All of our visits are done through video conferencing," Wheat said. "Plus, we don't have the availability for inmates to be released outside of the facility to do work in the community, so our level of contraband dropped dramatically. We still have some, but it is very little."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2425.

(May 19, 2009)