By Andrew Oxford
The Santa Fe New Mexican
SANTA FE, N.M. — Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies are looking for a second woman they suspect is tied to a scheme to smuggle drugs into the county jail.
Deputies arrested Lauren Herrera, 31, last month after she was accused of delivering a set of hair clippers to the jail that contained 170 strips of Suboxone.
Investigators now say Letasha Montoya, 27, also might have played a part in the scheme.
Both women have boyfriends in custody at the jail, according to an affidavit filed in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.
A series of text messages and phone calls between the women indicate Montoya bought the clippers and drove Herrera to the jail, where she delivered them for her boyfriend, investigators wrote in the affidavit. But the messages seem to indicate that they didn’t communicate before carrying out the purported scheme.
Instead, the document says, inmates coordinated the delivery in phone calls to their girlfriends, which were recorded by jail staff.
Montoya is charged with two counts of being an accessory to bringing contraband into a place of imprisonment.
The sheriff’s office asks anyone with information about her whereabouts to call Detective Joseph J. Barela at 505-428-3720.
Herrera remains in custody at the Santa Fe County jail on charges of bringing contraband into a place of imprisonment, possession with intent to distribute and conspiracy to bring contraband into a jail.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said an investigation continues into drug smuggling at the jail. Officials initially said investigators questioned jail inmates and staff, but county administrators have refused to release records on whether any personnel are on leave as a result of the probe.
Copyright 2016 The Santa Fe New Mexican