The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that Maricopa County prison officers found nearly 500 pills suspected of being fentanyl during five inmate appointments.
According to the sheriff’s office, guards found what appeared to be AA batteries that had fallen from the inmate’s pocket, along with about six suspected fentanyl tablets. About 70 more tablets were seized on separate bookings.
The fourth seizure occurred when a female inmate released two blue pills while providing a urine sample, and 150 pills were retrieved. A cavity test found 50 pills that had begun to dissolve in the body.
According to the sheriff’s office, the latest seizure took place on Feb. 12 after an inmate ordered to undress during a reservation tried to hide an object between his leg and a prison-issued sock. , 200 tablets were found.
In January the sheriff’s office arrested a prison officer who admitted to trying to smuggle drugs in November, according to court documents. Andrés Salazar, 27, was taken into custody on January 11 on suspicion of trying to smuggle fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and wax into his 100 pills of marijuana into Buckeye Prison.
