CLARK COUNTY, Ind. — Eleven men are accused of using coded messages to smuggle narcotics into the Clark County Jail. Thanks to an investigation, they were caught before their plan paid off.
The Sheriff's Office released the details of the investigation on Nov. 14.
“They were posing almost like they were foremen on a job site delivering windows and paint,” Colonel Scottie Maples said in a press conference.
According to the investigation, Clark County Detectives stopped several inmates from getting drugs from a former inmate, 41-year-old Matthew Bays, of Memphis, IN.
Bays communicated with the inmates through coded messages and delivered the drugs to inconspicuous locations near the jail.
“There were some keywords that kept popping up that didn’t make a whole lot of sense for inmates in the facility using words like 'jobsite' to mark the drop off site for the drugs, 'windows' for methamphetamine and different colors of paints to mark different prescription and nonprescription pills... At the time we were utilizing inmate workers to clean around the facility they were attempting to drop the drugs there," Maples said.
In their communications, the inmates detailed 'red' or 'blue' in reference to the Coca-Cola and Pepsi machines in the jail lobby and the corresponding trash bins next to them carrying the drugs. The exchange was happening through email on the Clark County jail kiosks used by inmates to order commissary, drop mail, and schedule visits.
“We were able to go back months of them trying to coordinate one drop that’s how important it is and how big of a process it is,” Maples said.
Two of the inmates, Kime and Anderson, were set to be released the first week of November, but instead of going free, they were served new paperwork for their part in this plot.
"We will continue to proactively investigate people who attempt to bring drugs into our facility," said Sheriff Jamey Noel. "The time and energy these offenders use to prey on the addicted for their own personal gain are indescribable and despicable."
Police are actively searching for Matthew Bays who is wanted on 24 counts of Conspiracy to Commit Dealing Narcotics and/or Trafficking with an Inmate.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, you can submit it to the Clark County Sheriff's Office tip line.
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