How to Use contraband in a Sentence

contraband

noun
  • The border police searched the car for drugs and other contraband.
  • The detainee then took the contraband on a bus back to Rikers Island.
    Graham Rayman, New York Daily News, 16 May 2024
  • They’re searched on entry to facilities; even a fork can be considered contraband.
    Tracy Rosenthal, The New Republic, 19 May 2022
  • Border patrol agents have stepped up their searches for the pills and other related fentanyl contraband.
    Nathan Luna, ABC News, 3 May 2022
  • Research has shown that visitors are not the primary source of contraband making its way into prisons and jails.
    Dan Slepian, NBC News, 20 June 2024
  • Much of the evidence was based on a wiretap operation of contraband prison cellphones.
    Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 5 June 2024
  • Agents ostensibly searched departing cars for drugs and other contraband.
    From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 18 Apr. 2022
  • Even so, a significant amount of contraband has turned up among Crossroads residents, officials said.
    Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 26 June 2024
  • Jail staff relies on body scanners to identify contraband, but the machines are not completely reliable, officials say.
    Kelly Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 May 2022
  • Federal and local authorities say that drones have also been used to smuggle contraband, including cell phones and drugs, into prisons.
    Aamer Madhani, Chicago Tribune, 25 Apr. 2022
  • Criminals with systems for smuggling ivory are perfectly positioned to traffic other contraband.
    Dean Paton, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Apr. 2022
  • Mendota inmates who were near the packages were ordered to immediately leave the yard and searched, prosecutors said, and no contraband was recovered.
    Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2024
  • Out of 58 instances where contraband was discovered, the report noted that reasonable suspicion was documented for less than half of those frisks.
    Elliot Hughes, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 13 May 2022
  • Several changes have been implemented to fight contraband from getting into the jail, with at least two people dying while in custody due to overdoses since November.
    Krista Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 6 May 2022
  • Police seized the contraband and sent the man, 22, of Erie, Pa., on his way.
    cleveland, 17 Aug. 2022
  • The contraband was not in plain sight and the officer asked if the nursing staff could search the patient.
    Joan Rusek, cleveland, 18 Aug. 2023
  • She was found to be in possession of a contraband cell phone.
    Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 30 Aug. 2023
  • The clear designs are meant to prevent the tablets from being used to store contraband or weapons.
    Gabrielle Caplan, WIRED, 6 May 2024
  • Officials say the drones have been used to drop contraband.
    Michael Brice-Saddler, Washington Post, 30 June 2023
  • Cheaters have been caught sneaking off to the bathroom to check moves on contraband smartphones.
    Matt Pearce, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2022
  • Better like fights and, and suicides and contraband use.
    Laura Johnston, cleveland, 14 July 2022
  • All contraband that customs agents are trained to catch.
    Lauren McCarthy, BostonGlobe.com, 10 May 2023
  • The trooper found two traps used to conceal contraband in the floorboard, the affidavit says.
    Stephanie Gosk, NBC News, 4 Oct. 2022
  • During the long, long months when Russian forces were in charge, the national flag was contraband.
    Hanna Arhirova, ajc, 13 Nov. 2022
  • Hamm said most of the contraband is thrown over the perimeter fences and the ADOC does not have the personnel to adequately prevent that.
    Mike Cason | McAson@al.com, al, 22 Feb. 2023
  • Macauley, 41, enlisted a group of friends who were local drug dealers to sell the contraband.
    David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 15 May 2024
  • All of the drugs were turned over to the Border Patrol, which said in a statement on Twitter that the total street value of the contraband was about $2 million.
    David Goodhue Miami Herald (tns), al, 1 Aug. 2022
  • And the shadow market for drone contraband appears to be growing.
    Wired, 31 July 2022
  • There is also a huge influx of trafficked contraband, such as drugs and cell phones, into the prison system.
    Cara Tabachnick, CBS News, 28 Feb. 2024
  • Carrying contraband cigarettes, the boat ran aground in a bout of bad weather in the early 1980s while fleeing the Greek Navy.
    Lauren Mowery, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'contraband.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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