Drugs hidden under postage stamps in Pa. prison smuggling scheme

Inmates and their loved ones were charged in a drug smuggling scheme involving narcotics hidden under postage stamps on letters delivered to the prison, authorities said on Tuesday

March 23, 2011 05:08 AM

By Dave Warner
From Reuters.com

PHILADELPHIA -- “Operation Postage Stamp” resulted in the arrest of 11 suspects, said Lauren Bozart, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general. The investigation is continuing and more arrests are possible, she said.

Warden Joseph Gross, who oversees the correctional facility in rural Nesquehoning, north of Philadelphia, intercepted three letters with a drug called Suboxone slipped beneath the stamps, the attorney general’s office said in a statement.

Suboxone is used to treat heroin addiction, and now comes fashioned into thin film strips similar to breath-freshening strips.

Five prisoners were charged with attempting to possess a controlled substance.