Fifteen homemade shanks, fentanyl and bottles of jailhouse hooch fermented from corn and Kool-Aid packets turned up when the Oklahoma County Detention Center searched every inch of the facility last month. The discovery was significant enough that jail administrators have already changed what's on the menu, pulling corn from detainee meals entirely to cut off the ingredient at its source.
The detention center conducted the sweep as a joint contraband operation with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, which sent about 30 officers and canine handlers to help search the entire jail, according to KOKH. Investigators recovered the 15 shanks, made from various materials including wood, along with drugs including fentanyl and multiple bottles of homemade alcohol, the station reported.
That alcohol had a distinctly low-tech origin story. Detainees fermented corn, water and Kool-Aid packets to produce the liquor, per KOKH's reporting, and The Oklahoman described the top-to-bottom shakedown as turning up homemade corn liquor, sometimes called hootch, among the contraband.
Jail Pulls Corn From the Menu
Jail administrator Tim Kimrey told the Criminal Justice Authority at its meeting Monday that corn has been replaced with green beans on detainee meal trays, the same outlet reported. The switch followed the discovery that detainees had hoarded bags of corn specifically to brew alcohol, exploiting the vegetable's high sugar content to ferment it into something intoxicating.
Kimrey described detainees as innovative in devising ways to make things, and said that if they manage to make alcohol out of green beans instead, it would be a first for him. Green beans carry a lower sugar content than corn, which is presumably why jail officials landed on them as a replacement.
Wider Search Turned Up Phones, Tattoo Guns and More
The Oklahoma County sweep wasn't limited to weapons and alcohol. A separate search effort described by News 9 found a cellphone, tattoo guns, narcotics and fermented corn, with staff calling it a methodical, in-depth search for all kinds of contraband. Canines also alerted on waxy paper that likely contained cannabinoids, the station reported.
Officials told the outlet that detainees use Cash App to move money inside the jail, using those funds to purchase contraband ranging from K2 papers and shanks to marijuana, methamphetamine and fentanyl. Detention center officials said charges will be filed when contraband is found, according to the same report.
Contraband Sweep Comes Amid a Statewide Overdose Crisis
The fentanyl recovered in the Oklahoma County sweep lands against a grim statewide backdrop. Oklahoma recorded 748 fentanyl-related overdose deaths in 2023, a 21% jump from the prior year, and fentanyl deaths statewide have grown by more than 1,300% between 2019 and 2023, according to The Frontier.
The problem extends behind bars specifically. The Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office had analyzed 23 overdose deaths that occurred in state jails and prisons in 2024 alone, 12 of which involved fentanyl, The Frontier reported. Department of Corrections data separately showed 30 deaths involving alcohol or drugs in 2023, with prison staff responding to 530 non-fatal overdoses over the prior two years.
