Alabama prison contraband search finds more than 600 weapons

Prison interior. Jail cells and shadows, dark background. 3d illustration / Getty Images
Prison interior. Jail cells and shadows, dark background. 3d illustration / Getty Images

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) -- A search of Fountain Correctional Facility in Alabama's Escambia County has found more than 600 makeshift weapons, 51 cellphones, synthetic drugs and multiple gallons of an alcoholic drink that prisoners call julep or pruno.

The Alabama Department of Corrections says more than 300 law enforcement officers took part in the 10-hour operation Monday at Fountain, which houses about 1,230 inmates.

The department says the search was the sixth time the corrections department had joined with local, county and state law enforcement to crack down on contraband at a state prison. Officials, in a statement Tuesday, said the department carried out the first major joint contraband operation at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville in February.

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