Four inmates at the Pulaski County jail face added sets of charges in what officials described as a failed attempt to smuggle drugs into the jail using a makeshift fishing pole in April.
A fifth man was also charged with helping set up the scheme from outside the jail.
The "improvised retrieval device," constructed with paper, trash bags and torn sheets, was used to pick up a weighted bag containing 4.1 grams of marijuana that had been thrown between two fences enclosing the jail's W-Unit on April 18, according to arrest reports for the men charged in the alleged scheme.
A jail deputy was able to foil their attempts before the men retrieved the drugs, the reports state.
The inmates — John Johnson, 23; Marlon James, 45; Jose Hernandez, 42; and Robert Young, 28 — were charged along with 28-year-old Victor Thompson of Little Rock with attempting to smuggle drugs into the jail.
Young and Thompson, cousins who deputies said set up the drop-off using recorded jailhouse phone calls, were additionally charged with illegal use of a communication device.
Carl Minden, a spokesman for the Pulaski County sheriff's office, which runs the jail, was not familiar with the case but said it was "well known" that people attempted to toss drugs to inmates at that unit, prompting extra patrols.
"People are always trying to throw stuff over the fence," Minden said. "It's a pretty hard throw."
The four men who were inmates April 18 were all listed on the Pulaski County jail roster Monday.
Thompson was not listed on the jail roster Monday.