(COLDWATER) – Three people have been charged in a plot to smuggle contraband into the Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater.

Michigan State Police were contacted in February 2019 by prison officials about a package that was sent to the facility via Fedex. The package contained hidden drugs and cell phones intended for prisoners. State Police and the Michigan Department of Corrections started a joint investigation, that identified a prisoner at Lakeland and two women from the Detroit area that were involved in the incident.

The investigation took officers to Detroit, Dearborn, Lansing, Paw Paw and to Indianapolis in their efforts to identify the suspects and locate evidence. Investigators worked with several private businesses as well as Indiana’s Department of Corrections, Michigan’s Department of Corrections Parole and Probation, Department of Corrections Intelligence Unit, Lakeland staff, the MSP crime lab, and MSP 2nd District Major Case Unit in Detroit.

The 25 year old Lakeland inmate has since been transferred to a prison in Ionia. He has been charged with felony conspiracy to smuggle contraband into a prison. The two females, a 35 year old from Dearborn and a 33 year old from Detroit, were arrested Tuesday. They are being held in the Branch County Jail on charges of felony conspiracy to commit forgery and felony conspiracy to smuggle contraband into a prison.

All three suspects are awaiting arraignment and names will be held until then.