MCSO investigating spike in drug overdoses at Arizona jails
MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — A dozen drug overdoses have been reported at Maricopa County’s jail facilities within the past week, resulting in the death of at least one inmate.
The sheriff’s office announced that four inmates were rushed to the hospital on Valentine’s Day at about 1 a.m. for a suspected drug overdose. One of those inmates later died.
Eight other suspected overdoses have been reported at the Estrella jail over the past week.
MCSO said the overdoses appear to be connected to undetected fentanyl smuggled into the jail. The drugs were allegedly hidden inside the inmate’s genitalia, which MCSO said would have been “impossible” to detect.
Drug overdoses have been a reoccurring problem at MCSO jails for the past few years. A former detention officer was sentenced to prison last year for helping to smuggle meth and fentanyl into the jail.
Sheriff Jerry Sheridan, who assumed office earlier this year, recently decided to end an agency policy that had required staff to pass through body scanners at MCSO jail facilities.
In a statement, the sheriff said on Monday the agency is in the process of obtaining “X-ray scanning machines” that could help prevent more overdose incidents.
MCSO said detectives are investigating how the recent drugs were smuggled into the jail.
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