HAROSH PRISON

Harosh Prison was a maximum-security military prison in North Africa. The corrupt Commandant had bugged every cell, and he used informants to keep himself apprised of what happened within the walls. One such informant, Khan, who ran a PCP lab out of his cell, maintained control over the other prisoners by using the intimidating presence of another prisoner, Fuad, as his enforcer.

When MacGyver was approached by Sara Ashford, who asked for his help to break her brother Brian out of prison, he assaulted two police officers by spraying them with soda in order to get himself arrested and sent to Harosh Prison to orchestrate an escape from the inside. Sara had explained that Brian was a medical missionary who had been arrested when bringing valuable relief supplies into the country.

Once inside, MacGyver was befriended by François Villars, a French prisoner who was anxious to help him with his plan. Knowing that the cells were bugged, MacGyver used misinformation as well as sound effects and a delayed fuse to convince the Commandant that Brian Ashford was worth $12 million and that a prison break was being arranged by helicopter.

The Commandant prepared for an aerial assault, but MacGyver took advantage of the diversion to blow up Khan's PCP lab and to break Brian Ashford out of prison through the main gate.

It was only after his successful escape that MacGyver learned that Sara was in fact a Soviet agent and Brian was a crooked arms dealer who had stolen weapons from her. Brian managed to elude them both and meet with buyers for the weapons, but MacGyver and Sara followed and successfully destroyed the entire cache of weapons.

Cross Reference: Africa, Brian Ashford, Sara Ashford, Commandant, Fuad, Khan, François Villars

Episode Reference: The Escape