A female inmate at a correctional facility in Oregon who allegedly provided narcotics to fellow prisoners was recently caught with bags of heroin and meth in her stomach.
Officials at Yamhill County Jail in Oregon charged 32-year-old inmate Rashel Sutliff Thursday over the incident, which unfolded after officers heard inmates were using heroin in the female general population block on June 22. Captain Richard Geist, who runs the jail, moved Sutliff to Washington County Jail to undergo a full body scan after fingering her as a suspected supplier, reported the Statesman Journal.
Sutliff was subsequently transported to Willamette Valley Medical Center after the scanner indicated the presence of foreign objects. Hospital workers found one bag containing 2 grams of heroin and another with 12 grams of methamphetamine.
Sutliff, who was initially arrested on June 20 over an outstanding warrant, faces an array of new charges, including unlawful delivery and possession of heroin and possession of methamphetamine. (RELATED: Study Shows States Might Be Undercounting Opioid Deaths By As Much As 70,000)
“With the rise in heroin use and it’s extremely addictive qualities, inmates are becoming more and more willing to risk introducing these drugs into correctional facilities,” said Yamhill County Sheriff Tim Svenson, according to the Statesman Journal. “Smuggling drugs into our facility will not be tolerated and those attempting to do so will face criminal prosecution.”
Officials are in the process of installing a similar scanner at the Yamhill County Jail due to rising rates of opioid addiction.
Opioid overdose made up a staggering 66 percent of all drug-overdose deaths in 2016, claiming roughly 42,249 lives, according to data released in December 2017 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The epidemic is contributing to declining life expectancy in the U.S., officials say. Life expectancy dropped for the second consecutive year in 2016 for the first time since an outbreak of influenza in 1962 and 1963.
Overall, drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death for Americans under age 50, killing more than 64,000 people in 2016.
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