January 25, 2023 – After busting a Mexican cartel drug ring that was facilitated in large part through contraband cell phones, Attorney General Alan Wilson said he is leading a multistate effort to call on Congress to pass legislation giving states the authority to jam illegal cell phones in prisons.

The attorney general said in the past five years, Wilson’s office has handled four major drug trafficking cases where inmates using contraband cell phones facilitated and organized drug rings while behind prison walls – the most recent being Las Señoritas in the Upstate.

In 2018, a deadly prison riot in Lee Correctional Institute was orchestrated and planned using contraband cell phones, leaving seven dead and 20 more hurt.

“A prison cell is no place for access to a cell phone,” said Attorney General Alan Wilson. “Inmates across the country, and here in South Carolina, are using contraband cell phones to facilitate drug trafficking, commit extortion, and even organize murders. We’re doing our part on the ground, but Congress needs to give states the power to jam these cell phones. Enough is enough.”

Working alongside SC Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling, Wilson has called for the FCC to give states the ability to jam contraband cell phones.

More than a year and a half ago, the FCC announced it was giving states the technology to pinpoint contraband cell phones and send the information to cell phone carrier to be shut off withing five days of notice, according to Wilson. The SC Department of Corrections was the first state to apply and be approved to use this technology in 2022.

Attorney General Wilson said inmates using contraband cell phones to continue their criminal activity behind bars is not a just a South Carolina problem but a nationwide issue.

Attorney General Wilson leads 21 states calling for Congress to pass legislation that would give states the authority to jam contraband cell phones.

By Anisa Snipes, FOX Carolina
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