Prison guards suspended for drug use

PENDLETON, Ind. (AP) - More than a dozen staffers at a central Indiana prison have been suspended during a crackdown on drug use and contraband trafficking.

State Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison says the drug tests and searches of employees at the Pendleton Correctional Facility were prompted by drug use found among inmates.

Garrison says 12 employees out of 600 workers at the prison face possible termination for personal drug use. Another worker could be fired for the attempted trafficking of a cell phone. An additional 38 staff members failed drug tests, but denied doing anything illegal and will undergo more tests.

Visitation at the maximum-security prison has been suspended and it has been on lockdown for two weeks as each cell is searched.