Inmates, correction officers busted at Rikers Island

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Seventeen people including inmates and correction officers at Rikers Island were arrested in a contraband smuggling investigation, according to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark.

The officers involved allegedly took thousands of dollars in bribes and worked together with inmates to smuggle scalpels, narcotics and synthetic marijuana into jail, reported the NY Daily News.

Clark made the announcement Thursday. Those arrested also included friends and relatives of the officers and inmates.

One officer allegedly received bribes totaling at least $10,000 to smuggle in shivs wrapped in duct tape and synthetic “K2” marijuana from Sept. 12 to Nov. 24, 2015.

"We have zero tolerance for any illegal behavior in our jails, and we are confident that our ongoing reforms are yielding more capable officers and safer jails," said Dept. of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte.

Starting Thursday, the Dept. of Correction said it had assigned a team to monitor inmate phone calls; added broader K-9 searches; and expanded Intel sharing from phone monitoring with the Dept. of Investigation.