Correctional Officer Arrested for Drug Smuggling in Licking Prison

A correctional officer at the South Central Correctional Facility in Licking, MO has been arrested on charges pertaining to a drug investigation in the prison.

In 2022, a dozen men inside the prison died by overdose. An ivestigation into 22 year old correctional officer Paige Cook found that Cook had phone communication with an inmate, and worked with family and friends on the outside of the prison to smuggle drugs to the inmates.

Cook was booked and released, and is expected to face charges of Felony Delivery or Possession of a Controlled Substance at a Correction Center.