PHOENIX — The drug crisis continues inside the Maricopa County Jail.

spokesperson for Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Five inmates at Towers Prison in Phoenix have been rushed to hospital for suspected overdoses, officials said Saturday morning.

All prisoners were administered Narcan prior to transfer.

The Phoenix Fire Department was also called to the prison and said it helped with the medical evaluation of the two inmates. However, the fire department did not cooperate in transporting the prisoners.

At this time, the MCSO has not disclosed what drugs the inmates used, but reports that all five are now back at Towers Penitentiary.

A similar situation occurred in early April.

Seven inmates at Estrella Prison suffered a drug overdose and were taken to hospital. Officers found methamphetamine and fentanyl pills in the area where the mentally disturbed inmate was found, the MCSO said.

Drug seizures and overdoses continue to increase in county jails.

“This is an issue we see in our county every day,” Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said at a news conference in April.

The sheriff’s office is training more sheriffs to administer Narkan to inmates. He said 172 people have been given Narcan in 2022 and 96 so far this year. Sheriff Penzone expects that number in 2023 to be even higher than in 2022.

Fentanyl seizures are also expected to hit a record high in 2023. In 2022, 3,162 pills were found in county jails, and 2,060 fentanyl pills were found this year.

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