Officers found 68 handmade knives during a shakedown at a locked-down prison Tuesday, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Channel 2’s Mark Winne reported last week that eight Georgia prisons were on lockdown because of gang problems.
Telfair State Prison Assistant Commissioner Tim Ward told the station that a lockdown means food gets delivered to cells instead of eaten in the cafeteria. Inmates are barred from recreation time, visitation and phone calls.
The commissioner said he wants to send a message to gang members and others that “We control the prisons. Not the gangs.”
Twenty-two tactical teams were called in for the search at the South Georgia prison, where officers found about 68 weapons made from various pieces of metal and other materials. About 33 gallons of homemade liquor and five cellphones were also recovered, Channel 2 reported.
Warden Phil Hall said he takes contraband such as weapons seriously and the knives recovered remind him of Officer Larry Stell, who was fatally stabbed by an inmate at the prison.
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