The issue of drug smuggling at the Canyon County jail turned deadly last December, leading to a renewed push from the sheriff’s office to find a solution.
Two inmates at the county jail in Caldwell have overdosed in the past four months while smuggling in drugs. One of the women survived, but the other died at a local hospital.
County jail Capt. Harold Patchett said visitors and inmates trying to sneak drugs into prisons and jails has been a problem for as long as he can remember. He’s worked in the jail for 18 years, and he said it first started with marijuana and cocaine, but now the big problems are heroin, opioid pills and fentanyl.