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SALT LAKE CITY — Administrators with the Utah Department of Corrections are warning visitors not to bring drugs into their facilities.
The message comes on the heels of the arrests of four people in eight days who allegedly attempted to pass drugs to inmates at corrections facilities in the state, according to the Department of Corrections. At least three of those incidents were at the main Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City, also known as the Utah State Correctional Facility.
One of those arrests included a brazen case of a small hole being cut in the plexiglass barrier separating visitors from inmates, and drugs were passed through the hole.
Diana Cruz-Rodriguez, 26, was arrested on March 2 for investigation of drug possession, damaging the prison and bringing prohibited items into the prison. On that day, Cruz-Rodriguez was visiting inmate Kevin Zamora. After her visit, officers searched the booth where she had met with Zamora and found "a hole in the glass of the barrier booth, that separated Diana and Zamora," according to a police booking affidavit.
Cruz-Rodriguez was detained and questioned.
"Diana admitted to cutting the hole in the glass with her car keys and passing a piece of paper through the hole that contained 10 strips of an orange substance. Based on my experience, I know this substance to be Suboxone," the arresting officer wrote in the affidavit. Suboxone is typically used to treat opioid addiction, but can also cause dependence if misused.
While being booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, two more strips of Suboxone were found on Cruz-Rodriguez, according to the affidavit.
Although Cruz-Rodriguez allegedly claimed she used her car keys to cut a hole in the plexiglass, corrections officials on Wednesday released a picture of a small bent piece of metal — similar to a bent nail — that was collected from the scene and said Zamora "made a hole in the plexiglass barrier." Administrators believe it is possible that both Zamora and Cruz-Rodriguez were digging a hole at the same time.
Zamora, 22, was convicted in 2019 of aggravated robbery and in 2021 of failing to stop at the command of police. On Feb. 15, just three weeks before the plexiglass incident, he pleaded guilty to having a homemade weapon in the prison, according to court records.
In another incident on Feb. 23, Chirine Touati, 45, was visiting her son at the prison when she "was observed putting an item in a crayon box used by children," according to a statement from the Department of Corrections. That item was later determined to be drugs.
A police booking affidavit further states Touati claimed she received the drugs from an unknown person in Magna but did not know what kind of drugs they were. She was arrested for investigation of having prohibited items in a correctional facility.
On Feb. 27, Anjeliatt Esmeralda Flores, 20, was visiting her boyfriend at the state prison.
"While sitting at a visiting table, she was observed leaning suspiciously over towards the ground and then he leaned over and picked something up. After a few minutes, he was observed placing his hands in his pants and what appeared to be putting something in his rectum. Both of them were detained and he was taken to a secure holding cell where he voluntarily produced a small package containing drugs," according to a police affidavit.
Flores was arrested for investigation of having prohibited items in a correctional facility. Her arrest came one day after entering into a plea bargain in Kaysville Justice Court in a misdemeanor drug case, according to court records
Information about the fourth arrest was not released.
"Those who bring drugs and other contraband to our facilities will be held accountable and we will prosecute," said Mike Schoenfeld, law enforcement bureau chief for the Utah Department of Corrections.
"Thanks to new investigative techniques … officers have information on possible future deliveries, and are keeping an eye on specific individuals," the department said.
Schoenfeld says all security measures are currently being reviewed, including whether thick glass should replace the plexiglass or if in-person visits should even be allowed. He said all of the county jails have video visits only. At the Utah State Prison, he said, the goal is to give inmates success and provide an opportunity for them to become sober and reenter society. But he says administrators may have to rethink the way they operate if visitors continue to try and take advantage of visiting privileges.
Schoenfeld's warning to visitors is to keep drugs away from the prison.
"Do not take the risk unless you want to go to jail," he said.
