Arkansas prison investigators are trying to determine who hid hundreds of dollars worth of meat and tobacco in a horse barn at the maximum-security unit at Tucker last week.
Internal Affairs agents for the Department of Correction are preparing to turn over evidence to the Arkansas State Police for possible charges. Under state law, it is a felony to take contraband into a prison.
Correction Department spokeswoman Dina Tyler says that it appeared that two different parties hid a box of loose-leaf tobacco, which is popular among inmates, and a large quantity of beef and pork in the barn. Tobacco is banned in prisons and none of the meat was from inside the prison system.
Authorities still hadn't determined if officers, inmates or both were involved. Tyler says a tipster alerted prison authorities to the cache.
The 532-bed prison is about 25 miles northeast of Pine Bluff in rural Jefferson County, right next to the medium-security Tucker unit.