Dangerous synthetic drugs are changing the way some Minnesota prisons are processing mail
FARIBAULT, Minn. — Contraband isn't new to prisons, but investigators are warning that Minnesota's prison system is being inundated by mail laced with synthetic opioids.
"I've been in this department for 27 years, and this is one of our largest problems," John Melvin, director of the office of special investigations at the Minnesota Department of Corrections, explained to WCCO Investigates. "Our investigators are very overwhelmed by trying to help stop this introduction."
Melvin shared several examples of compromised mail that was confiscated and tested for drugs. They included everything from handwritten birthday cards to what appeared to a package from an attorney's office.
"It can be manufactured, it can be sprayed on and it dries, and then that piece of paper can be cut into small squares and ingested, usually through smoking," Melvin added. "They are making small devices like a cigarette and they're shoving it into the end of it and smoking it like a cigarette, then lighting it using the electrical outlet in their cells."
It's such a problem that some Minnesota prisons are changing their mailroom protocols.
Dozens of inmates transported to hospital
The flow of synthetic drugs into prisons has led to many dangerous situations inside cell blocks. Data provided to WCCO Investigates from the DOC shows nearly 70 occurrences this year where an ambulance was called to a Minnesota prison for a suspected overdose.
In some cases, staff has transported an inmate to a hospital in a DOC vehicle.
"Physically, we're finding them very distraught," Melvin said of inmates experiencing symptoms of suspected overdoses. "Sometimes not even able to talk. They've lost balance, on the floor in their cell. We've found them when they're in convulsions."
Additionally, Melvin warned that because the narcotics are synthetic, a common antidote like Narcan isn't always effective.
"If it's not an opioid, then we're not having success with our Narcan," Melvin said.
Overdoses lead to lockdowns, frustrating inmates' loved ones
The Minnesota Correctional Facility in Faribault is a sprawling campus with a population of roughly 1,800 offenders. They are divided into many buildings of dual-level cell blocks, but also have access to classrooms and recreation areas.
When there's a suspected overdose, sections of the prison will be locked down in order to restrict movement while corrections officers give medical attention to the offender. Those lockdowns, according to officials, can last several hours, but are necessary.
"It has to be the gameplan when safety is the core issue," DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell told WCCO Investigates. "You can't do anything else. If safety is a problem, if safety is at risk, then you can't do anything else, so that has to be managed first."
The lockdowns, however, have drawn rebuke from inmates' families and loved ones, which consider lockdowns collective punishment because it leads to the cancellation of work and rehabilitation programming.
"I'll be the first one to tell you, and the wardens will tell you, I want programs opened as soon as possible," Schnell said. "I want to minimize the use of lockdowns, but I will never say to [corrections officers] no lockdown because safety has to be the No. 1 job."
New protocols to help stop smuggling
The mailroom at the Faribault prison processes some 400 pieces of mail per day, according to staff, and in the days before Father's Day, as many as 39 letters tested positive for synthetic drugs.
The DOC has since piloted new mail protocols in Faribault, as well as the prisons Stillwater and Rush City, where mail is now opened, scanned, copied and then delivered to inmates.
"The compounds that are sent in change regularly," Schnell explained. "That's what makes this so insidious and so challenging. We have people that are getting so sick and dying from this stuff. We can't let that go on, so we're going to take steps to address it."
More than month after the protocols were introduced, DOC staff at Faribault are reporting a drastic reduction in the number of letters laced with opioids.
Melvin warned it could take another month before the drugs already smuggled in will be consumed by inmates, but he thinks the new mail program could stop up to 90% of compromised mail.
"We're doing a really good job of working with our population and talking about this," Melvin said.