Prosecutors: Gangsters in SC prisons ordered murders, ran drug empire with cellphones

[TexasTowelie]

COLUMBIA — Gang members imprisoned in South Carolina’s Department of Corrections used contraband cellphones to run a sprawling drug empire that left a trail of violence and death in the Palmetto State, according to a massive federal grand jury investigation unveiled Thursday.

For years, imprisoned members of the Insane Gangster Disciples orchestrated the beating, kidnapping and murder of people who threatened their $50 million-a-year methamphetamine and heroin trafficking operation, federal prosecutors alleged at a press conference outside Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia.

Other gang members carrying out their orders conducted drive-by shootings, tampered with witnesses and kidnapped, tortured and murdered a York County woman they suspected was a police informant, according to the 147-count indictment.

In announcing charges against 40 IGD members or associates Thursday, U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Peter McCoy said the case amounts to the largest racketeering conspiracy federal prosecutors have ever uncovered in South Carolina. In addition to murder and drug trafficking, defendants face charges ranging from armed robbery and arson to extortion and money laundering. Of the 40 defendants, 35 face life in prison.

Read more: https://www.postandcourier.com/news/prosecutors-gangsters-in-sc-prisons-ordered-murders-ran-drug-empire-with-cellphones/article_04894756-39a4-11eb-a3c2-0bce083d05c4.html

[hlthe2b]

1. This isn't the first time stories like this have appeared about cell phone-enabled crime in prisons.

I thought most prisons did not allow cell phones and even if they were smuggled in, could they not use cell blockers?