LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska prison officials unsuccessfully tried to buy an execution drug from a Mississippi-based company after trying for months to get it from a distributor in India.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that Nebraska ordered about $825 worth of pancuronium bromide last month from Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Plus, a company connected to a firm that faced disciplinary action in other states.

The order was cancelled because the company didn’t have the muscle relaxant in stock. Nebraska had already spent $26,000 to buy 1,000 doses it hasn’t been able to import from an Indian distributor.

The documents reflect problems death-penalty states face amid a national shortage of the drugs. They also show Nebraska is trying to obtain execution drugs despite an ongoing fight over abolishing the death penalty in Nebraska.