2 prison guards smuggled ‘copious’ amounts of drugs, contraband into SC prison: SCDC

Two South Carolina prison guards face drug and misconduct charges after trying to sneak several packages of contraband into a Columbia prison earlier this month, the state Department of Corrections announced.

The guards, Alexis Simone Tucker and Jorge Romero Navarro, were arrested after a July 1 incident at Broad River Correctional Institution, according to an SCDC news release. Both have been terminated.

Tucker, a 27-year-old Columbia resident, allegedly brought a clear plastic work bag containing multiple wrapped packages of drugs, cellphones and electronics into the prison, an SCDC spokeswoman said. Romero, 46, of Columbia, allegedly assisted Tucker by allowing her to enter the facility without searching her and “overlooking the obvious and copious amounts of contraband in her bag,” according to an arrest warrant.

The contraband was discovered after members of the prison’s Correctional Emergency Response Team stopped Tucker upon observing several black packages in her work bag.

A search of the bag revealed 3,249 grams of marijuana, 1,485 grams of tobacco, 982 cigar wraps, 605 grams of methamphetamine, 217 grams of cocaine, 27 cellphones, chargers, game controllers, air pods and other illegal items, SCDC said.

“Great front gate intercept of a lot of contraband by CERT team at Broad River CI today,” Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling tweeted the day the contraband was discovered. “Always disappointing to see staff involved (in) criminal activity.”

Tucker is charged with trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, providing contraband to prisoners, misconduct in office and drug conspiracy, according to SCDC.

Romero is charged with misconduct in office and drug conspiracy, the agency said.

The guards’ arrests come as South Carolina law enforcement officials struggle to stem the tide of contraband cell phone use by prison inmates. As of January, the corrections department had confiscated more than 35,000 cellphones and related accessories from inmates since 2015.

The contraband phones have been used to facilitate a variety of crimes, including drug trafficking, “sextortion” and assassination, prison officials said. The South Carolina Attorney General’s office in January charged 43 people in a multi-state, inmate-run methamphetamine trafficking operation aided by the use of cell phones smuggled into state prisons