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SOUTH SALT LAKE – A mother of an inmate was arrested after allegedly mailing narcotics to the Salt Lake County Jail.
On Jan. 10, Salt Lake County Jail employees found Suboxone strips glued inside the edges of an envelope intended for a female inmate. After monitoring the inmate’s phone calls and conversations, investigators found evidence that the inmate’s mother, Susanna M. Zoetmulder, had sent the narcotics, according to the probable cause statement.
On Feb. 4, investigators questioned Zoetmulder at the Unified police building. During the interview, she admitted she was speaking with her daughter in a recording investigators obtained. She also admitted she mailed the strips and knew it was illegal to do so, the probable cause statement said.
Zoetmulder was arrested on suspicion of distribution of a controlled substance and transported to the jail at that time.
Smuggling illicit items into correctional facilities is a significant problem across the United States, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Bureau said. In 2013, more than 400 attempted smuggling instances of drugs, paraphernalia and other illicit items occurred. Approximately 40 cases have contained Suboxone, a narcotic used to treat severe chronic pain, the sheriff’s office said. It is administered in dark yellow film strips.
Jail staff is trained to identify and confiscate such items.
“(We) will continue to aggressively pursue those that try to breach the safety and security of our staff, our facility and other prisoners,” said Sgt. Cammie Skogg.
