TOWSON, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s prison agency says its crackdown on cell phone smuggling is showing results. 

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said Monday that the number of cell phones found in the prisons dropped 32 percent in fiscal year 2010 from fiscal year 2009. 

The agency says it found a little over 1,100 cell phones last year compared with nearly 1,700 the previous year. 

The agency made stopping contraband a priority three years ago. 

Secretary Gary Maynard says the improvement reflects department efforts including more than $1 million spent on new detection technology in 2009. 

He says the agency also hired an investigator whose sole focus is cell phone cases. 

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