A Maricopa County detention officer has been arrested after he was caught trying to smuggle fentanyl pills and methamphetamine into the Lower Buckeye jail.
Andres Salazar, age 26, was arrested at approximately 3:20 p.m., immediately before Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone announced the arrest at a press conference.
Penzone said it is believed that it was Salazar’s first attempt at smuggling drugs into the facility.
Salazar has worked for the Sheriff’s Office since 2019.
Salazar has been charged with:
According to the Sheriff’s Office, in 2022 there were 282 incident reports for narcotics in the jails. Over 150 incoming inmate postcards intercepted by the mailroom staff and tested positive for being soaked in fentanyl and/or methamphetamine as well. In that same year, over 170 inmates were taken to the hospital by Correctional Health Services (CHS) for overdose or drug-related incidents and the Medical Examiner determined that 17 in-custody deaths were the result of an overdose or drugs were a major contributing factor.