KSBY Exclusive: CMC contraband search filmed for first time ever

Posted: Oct 5, 2011 4:05 PM by Nancy Chen
Updated: Oct 6, 2011 12:56 PM

KSBY gets unprecedented look into contraband search at California Mens Colony

69 grams of tobacco and about three grams of methamphetamine were seized in San Luis Obispo early Tuesday evening, but it wasn't on the streets or even in someone's house. Instead, it was inside a place that is supposed to be clean.

It's one of California's best-known medium-security prisons; at California Men's Colony, even the simplest things can be dangerous, and therefore, forbidden.

But it doesn't mean they aren't there. KSBY News cameras got unprecedented, exclusive access to CMC during a search for contraband early Tuesday evening.

The search was a surprise to everyone--prisoners and guards--minus a select few personnel.

Out-of-town corrections officers came in, ready to find anything hidden. But they aren't the ones doing the real searching. Instead, these scavengers are four-legged and sniffing around for everything, including drugs and cell phones.

It all starts with a Code 1 alert at the West Facility of the Men's Colony. All prisoners must immediately sit down and are handcuffed with plastic zip ties.

Dorm 18 is one of two cleared out on this day as five dogs and their handlers--the K-9 units--descend upon the grounds.

Nikki, a Belgian Malamar, is one of three dogs searching Dorm 18; for her, it's playtime, and this, a scavenger hunt.

She is specially trained to find contraband in prisons.

"Different narcotics, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines," said Sergeant Eladio Alfaro, Nikki's handler and partner. "She's also trained to detect the odors of tobacco and cell phones."

Alfaro is part of the state's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Investigative Services Unit. The members of this K-9 unit are based at Avenal State Prison, about an hour and a half away, and wherever Alfaro goes, Nikki goes too.

"This is probably one of the better places for us to come," Alfaro said. "I don't think we've ever come here and left empty-handed."

This week alone, they have five searches scheduled.

"She knows we're working right now so she's in pretty high drive," he said. "But once I get home, I put her in the backyard. She just runs around and goes crazy."

At three years old, Nikki is one of the more energetic K9s.

"Come here," Alfaro called after her as she scampered away during the search. "Hey, what's wrong with you? Come here. Nik!"

Her focus isn't always on target.

"There's times where I've had it where she doesn't want to work, and just kind of call it a day, put her back in the car and help these other guys while they're searching," Alfaro said.

But she doesn't miss much. It doesn't take long for Nikki to zero in on a door, leaping about eight feet tall, but a search of the hinge reveals nothing is hidden there.

Her true discovery though, what she was really pointing out, soon comes to light: a light fixture serving as a hiding place for methamphetamine.

"Wow, nice!" Alfaro says. "That's what I'm talking about. Good girl!"

Alfaro said prisoners used to hide contraband in lockers and easier-to-find places; now, they invest time and energy in their smuggling.

"It's challenging because these guys got all day to try to trick us or lay down some different scents or odors for the dogs that they think are going to distract the dog," he said. "But it doesn't matter what they do. I mean, we're still finding the stuff."

The three dogs searching Dorm 18 are part of a team of 10 based at Avenal, serving twelve prisons in Central California. And while they're all around the same age, they don't all understand the same language. Nikki, for example, responds to English commands, while Viking, another K-9, understands French and Ida, German.

All alert their handlers in different ways too. Nikki scratches at the area and tries to toss what she finds back to Alfaro.

It's a far cry from where she was just a little while ago; Nikki was once behind bars herself. Alforo adopted her from a shelter.

"They were getting ready to put her down because they weren't able to place her," he said. "So we just happened to pick her up, and I mean, look at her now."

Now, he calls her the princess of the department. Nikki's reward for the day--her motivation for all the frantic scavaging--a blue tug, a toy that motivates all the dogs, and perhaps more importantly, and going home with her partner.

Overall in Tuesday's search, officers ended up finding three cell phones, four chargers, 69 grams of tobacco and about three grams of methamphetamine.

The contraband often comes from visitors and is hidden by prisoners.

However, Lt. Dean Spears, CMC's public information officer, concedes that rarely, but on occasion, even CMC staff gets involved in the illegal activity, which is exactly why searches are a surprise to everyone.

"A lot of crews work in different areas in the parks and the beaches and areas like that, but they make arrangements with people to actually do a drug drop or cell phone drop or some other kind of contraband."