Here's a story about the fun(?) things you can do with books. Criminals are inventive, for sure.

Prison Uncovers Library Book Drug-Smuggling Scam

The Michigan Department of Corrections has foiled a plot to smuggle drugs hidden in borrowed public library books into a state prison. State Police Detective Sgt. Edward Doyle said in the September 13 Grand Rapids Press that a scheme at the Carson City (Mich.) Correctional Facility was discovered through an informant before any drugs entered the prison.

Court records obtained by the newspaper described the alleged plot: An accomplice would check out books from the Madison Square branch of the Grand Rapids Public Library, cut out the bindings, insert the drugs, reseal them, and return them to the library. The accomplice would then tell inmates which books to request through a state-supported prisoner interlibrary loan program. Although prison librarians examine the pages and covers of the books, the bindings are usually overlooked, said prison spokesman Leo LaLonde.

Investigators told the Press that the titles chosen were “unpopular books so the likelihood someone else would check them out in the interim is unlikely.” No accomplices have yet been arrested in connection with the operation.

http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2006abc/september2006a/smuggle.htm