The contraband included 200 barbiturates, 10 utility blades and a buck knife.
By Adriana M. Chávez
El Paso Times
EL PASO, Texas — A woman joined her husband as an inmate at the El Paso County Jail after she allegedly hid drugs and weapons inside an oxygen tank meant for him, sheriff’s deputies said Friday.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Deputy Jesse Tovar said that at about 5 p.m. Thursday, Bernadette Valenzuela, 41, of the 700 block of El Centauro, was trying to drop off an oxygen concentrator and a CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, machine for her husband, Ronnie Valenzuela, 43.
Tovar said that as the jail’s medical staffers began inspecting the machines, which are used for treating upper respiratory problems, they noticed parts were missing.
“Further inspection revealed the contraband to be hidden within the machine,” Tovar said.
The contraband included 200 barbiturates, 10 utility blades and a buck knife. After the medical staffers made the discovery, they called for de puties to arrest Ber na dette Valenzuela.
She was charged with three counts of prohibited substances and items in a correctional facility and jailed in lieu of $15,000 bond.
Jail records show Ronnie Valenzuela was also arrested Thursday for theft of property over $1,500/under $20,000. He remained jailed without bond Friday.
Tovar said that it’s not unusual for relatives of ill inmates to drop off equipment the inmate normally uses at home, but that any such equipment is extensively searched.
“We maintain strict searches of any item dropped off at our facility, which includes medical equipment for inmates,” Tovar said.
Copyright 2009 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper