By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
A two-year undercover FBI investigation, called “Operation Ghost Guard,” led to the arrests of 46 officers at nine Georgia prisons for allegedly accepting bribes to smuggle contraband into jails, the Washington Post reports.
The correctional officers were indicted on charges of accepting payments to smuggle tobacco, cellphones and drugs into prisons. Some also are accused of protecting drug dealers outside of prisons.
Among those arrested were five members of the elite tactical COBRA unit, whose responsibility is prevent drug deals in prison.
John Horn, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said the inducements show “staggering corruption.”
“It is truly troubling that so many corrections officers from across the state of Georgia could be so willing to sell their oaths, to sell their badges, for personal profit — to benefit and protect purported drug transactions,” he said, adding that the alleged acts put the public in danger.
