How do contraband cell phones get into the facilities?
Numerous ways - only limited by one's imagination, but among them are inside visitor body cavities; supplied by guards, often in exchange for bribes; smuggled by inmates on work-release programs, facilities contract workers, tossed over fences to prisoners in footballs or camouflaged packages. In New York smugglers even hid phone parts inside old typewriters to evade X-ray scrutiny.
They've become a larger security risk as cell phones shrink in size and advance in technology. These tiny phones are equipped with cameras, internet access and GPS navigation with Thumb-size SIM cards - and much easier to hide.