OROVILLE, Calif. — Butte County sheriff’s deputies arrested a man suspected of smuggling fentanyl into the county jail, leading to several overdoses.
Sheriff's officials said in a statement 35-year-old Eric Rehse is being accused of hiding the drugs in his anal cavity when he turned himself in to authorities on an outstanding warrant for property crimes.
The man was taken to jail on Wednesday. On Thursday, four inmates were hospitalized after suffering opioid overdoses in a medium-security housing unit of the jail.
Butte County Sheriff's Office investigators determined the new inmate, Rehse, was the source of the fentanyl and arrested him.
"Housing intake searches include a thorough visual search of the incoming inmate’s body. However, without probable cause, a court order and assistance from licensed medical professionals, correctional deputies are legally prohibited from physically searching the body cavities of inmates," the sheriff's office wrote in a statement.
Depending on the purity of the fentanyl, ingesting an amount the size of a few grains of salt can lead to an overdose, according to the sheriff's office.
Because of the increase in fentanyl in the community, the Butte County Sheriff's Office said it was considering purchasing a "body scanner" for correctional facilities, which is similar to body scanners used at screening stations at airports.
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