Two men and a woman suspected of smuggling drugs into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta were behind bars Friday.
Nicole Marie Gall, 29, and Jaime Benjamin Garcia, 41, both of Moreno Valley, along with 41-year-old Juan Briseno of Murrieta, were arrested Thursday following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.
Gall and Garcia were each booked into the Murrieta jail on suspicion of conspiracy and selling controlled substances within a correctional facility, while Briseno was formally booked on suspicion of conspiracy, possession of controlled substances in jail and identity theft. He was already in custody at the Byrd Detention Center, awaiting disposition of an assault and domestic violence case, when deputies notified him of the additional allegations.
Briseno is being held on $100,000 bail. Gall and Garcia are each being held on $500,000 bail.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Rustad, the Corrections Investigations Bureau initiated a probe in December after uncovering evidence of a drug trafficking ring within the correctional system.
Deputies seized an undisclosed quantity of fentanyl at the Murrieta jail, culminating in the identification of the alleged conspirators in the smuggling ring, Rustad said.
Search warrants were obtained and served at a residence on Katrina Avenue in Moreno Valley, resulting “in the seizure of methamphetamine, items used in the smuggling operation and evidence of credit and identity fraud,” the sergeant said.
“The three suspects, working in concert, coordinated and attempted to smuggle fentanyl into the detention center,” he said.
Rustad said that the arrests stemmed from an “ongoing mission to prevent narcotics from entering our correctional facilities.”
“The diligence of our deputies during searches, implementation of the non-intrusive sensor and scanning device known as the `Tek-84,’ and comprehensive criminal investigations such as this are among measures the sheriff’s office has taken to combat the supply of narcotics into our jail system,” according to the sheriff’s spokesman.
Background information on Briseno, Gall and Garcia was unavailable.