A book of 20 stamps sells for $9 on the commissary, but represents a $6 value on the compound. With thousands of books of stamps in circulation at every prison, a thriving and fluid economy exists.
“Money makes the world go round,” the prisoner says. “It’s the same thing in here. The gangs are making a lot of money smuggling in and selling tobacco.” While illegal drugs usually enter prison a couple of grams at a time, tobacco is introduced in bulk. “Most prisons have an outside warehouse that sends loads of supplies in everyday, things the prison needs to run,” the prisoner says. “Most times low-security inmates staff these warehouses. It isn’t very hard for them to get a package of say 100 pouches of Bugler, insert them into a box of supplies entering the prison and alert their homeboy on the inside where to find the tobacco.” This is usually communication through multiple phone calls to third parties on the outside who relay details, messages and instructions.