EASLEY, S.C.—South Carolina authorities in October seized drugs and firearms, raided a dog fighting ring, and indicted 25 people for crimes that were allegedly orchestrated from state prison with smuggled cell phones.
Inmates are barred from having cell phones, but thousands of the devices make it past prison walls. Federal prison authorities are allowed to use jamming technology to block inmates from using phones smuggled into the facilities. But the Communications Act of 1934 prohibits state and local law enforcement from deploying similar methods.
That could soon change, South Carolina’s governor-elect said.
“You have people from within prison who are facilitating the trafficking of drugs,” Attorney General Alan Wilson, now the state’s incoming governor, told The Epoch Times in an exclusive interview before the election.
“They’re facilitating gang hits, and they’re getting rich and becoming millionaires while they’re behind bars.”
Wilson, along with a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general, lobbied the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to change the regulation’s wording and grant states more leeway when dealing with cellphones in jails.
“If we could jam it the way the feds do, we would turn those phones into bricks,” Wilson said.
They’re facilitating gang hits, and they’re getting rich and becoming millionaires while they’re behind bars.
South Carolina Gov.-Elect Alan Wilson
“That is specifically technology that would create an artificial iron dome over a prison. So signals don’t come in, signals don’t go out.”
He described the change needed as minor: “adding two or three words” to the existing rule. A coalition of state officials has sought the amendment for at least a decade.
“For 10 years, we’ve been trying to get them to let the state prisons do it,” Wilson said. “But there are powerful lobbies in the telecommunications industry.”
FBI Director Kash Patel called Wilson during the interview with The Epoch Times on Oct. 22 to discuss the matter, prompting the attorney general to say that something could happen soon.
The FCC will vote on allowing prisons to jam cellphones for the first time.
The FCC did not respond to The Epoch Times’ requests for comment.
On Oct. 28, FCC chairman Brendan Carr announced the agency will vote on allowing prisons to jam cellphones for the first time. The vote will take place during the FCC’s Nov. 19 meeting.
Changing the Rules
The rule change would allow, but not mandate, the use of signal jamming technology. The FCC pointed to the widespread nature of the problem, saying “thousands of contraband cellphones” are being used inside jails and prisons nationwide.
Wilson commended Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin for leading the charge to change the law.
In the statement, Griffin described the vote as “an important step toward giving correctional facilities the ability to shut down these illegal communications and keep our communities safe.”
Carr noted an increase in inmates using illegal phones to produce child sexual abuse material, among other crimes.
“While the FCC has authorized a range of solutions in the past, it has stopped short of allowing jamming. That ends today,” Carr said in a statement.
25K
DEVICES
More than 25,000 cellphones were seized across 20 state prison systems in 2020.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is also seeking to codify the rule change with his “Cellphone Jamming Reform Act.”
A 2024 study by nonprofit research group Urban Institute found that more than 25,000 cellphones were seized across 20 state prison systems in one year. The study, which used 2020 data, found that certain states were more impacted by the issue, with some reporting fewer than 20 phones recovered, and others reporting more than 6,000.
If the commission approves the change, multiple rounds of testing would be mandated to ensure the jamming is contained and does not impact the public. Shutdown protocols would mitigate risks, according to the proposal.
Operation ‘Duffle Bag Boyz’
Five South Carolina inmates are among 25 defendants facing 129 charges as a result of an organized crime investigation dubbed “Operation Duffle Bag Boyz.” The investigation exposed a large-scale crime ring involving drug trafficking, dog fighting, and firearms. The arrests were announced by Wilson’s office on Oct. 21.
Investigators seized nearly three pounds of fentanyl and another four pounds that are believed to be the deadly opioid, with testing still ongoing, as well as 10,000 fentanyl pills. Nearly seven pounds of methamphetamine and more than a pound of cocaine were also seized.
The narcotics were laced with fentanyl, Wilson said, noting that two-and-a-half milligrams of fentanyl—equal to just a few grains of salt—is enough to kill someone. “This is a really big deal, ” he said. “I believe lives were saved because those pills were not on the street.”
Operation Duffle Bag Boyz exposed a large-scale crime ring involving drug trafficking, dog fighting, and firearms.
South Carolina Department of Corrections Director Joel Anderson said the arrests “highlight the urgent need for state prisons to be allowed to jam illegal cellphone signals and stop inmates from using contraband phones to commit crimes.”
A dog fighting ring was also raided, and 47 canines were recovered. More than 30 firearms were seized during the operation. Those indicted face a range of charges, from narcotics trafficking and dog fighting to firearm possession. Several are facing sentences of up to 40 years on a single trafficking charge.
The criminal activity, coordinated with people on the outside, was “facilitated by members who were still operating in prison,” Wilson said.
South Carolina’s grand jurors issued a report last year calling for federal action and highlighting the problem of organized crime run from prison with contraband cellphones.
The report was released shortly after brothers Darrell and Matthew McCoy were found guilty of directing large-scale methamphetamine trafficking from within a state prison, with more than 630 kilograms of the drug brought into the state at the direction of the McCoys over a two-year period.
Ambushed via Cell Phone
In 2013, federal correctional officer Lt. Osvaldo Albarati was gunned down on his way home from work at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
In an August 2026 letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche, Albarati’s widow called for the passage of a bipartisan bill to stop contraband cell phones.
“My husband had been seizing illegal phones because inmates were using them to run drug gangs and direct criminal enterprises from behind bars,” Helen Albarati said.
“The order to kill him came from inside Guaynabo itself, placed by an inmate using one of those phones.”
In another instance of cell phone-related organized crime, a methamphetamine ring directed by inmates in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections resulted in 27 convictions last year. Convictions for gang-related kidnappings, murder, and scams, among other crimes facilitated by illegal cell phone use, have been reported by various law enforcement agencies in recent years.
Wilson noted the longstanding issue’s impact on national security and applauded the FCC’s announcement.
“We are making some real headway,” he said.
Governor-Elect
Wilson won the South Carolina governor’s race by more than four percentage points over Democrat Jermaine Johnson.
A colonel and 30-year combat veteran with the South Carolina Army National Guard, Wilson will soon be promoted to brigadier general. He seeks to govern using the skills learned throughout his career.
“I have led soldiers under hostile conditions,” he said, emphasizing his preparedness to serve as commander in chief of the state’s National Guard.
I want to challenge the status quo. … We’re not going to do things just because we’ve always done it that way.
South Carolina Gov.-Elect Alan Wilson
“I’ve been in over a dozen natural disaster events from the emergency preparedness standpoint.”
First elected attorney general in 2010, he has overseen the recovery of nearly $2 billion in fraud and corruption, protected the state’s voter ID law, and defended immigration laws, among other priorities.
As governor, he plans to lower taxes in the Palmetto State, including using a multi-year approach to lower the income tax for residents and businesses, with a goal of luring investments and boosting economic activity.
“Making us more competitive is something I want to do,” Wilson said.
“I want to challenge the status quo. … We’re not going to do things just because we’ve always done it that way. I do not aspire to be a transitional governor. I aspire to be a transformational governor.”
The 53-year-old Wilson lost his father, Airborne Infantry Ranger Michael Alan McCrory, when he was a toddler. McCrory, a Vietnam vet, was killed when a helicopter crashed during a training exercise in 1975.
In 1977, Wilson’s mother, Roxanne, married Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), a congressman since 2001, who raised the boy as one of his own. The incoming governor credits his success, in part, to his stepdad’s love.
“Dad would come in and hear my prayers when I was a little boy,” Wilson recalled. “He would always say things to me like, ‘Alan, there are kids in this world who do not have a dad in their life that loved them. You know, you were so blessed that God allowed you to have two dads that loved you with all their heart.’”
He vowed to lead with compassion.
“I want to be the kind of governor who can bring people together to accomplish the most good for the most people we can in our state.”
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