Jailers thought they smuggled in meth and tacos — they were half right, TX sheriff says
Two former detention officers thought they were smuggling meth and brisket tacos to Texas jail inmates — and they were half right, authorities said, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
The tacos were real, but the drugs were actually a “benign substance made to look like methamphetamine,” the newspaper reported.
It was all part of an undercover sting operation, the Express-News reported, and those two jailers were caught sneaking drugs and tacos into the Bexar County Jail.
They were arrested last summer after “investigators became aware of the smuggling operation in late 2017,” KSAT reported.
One of those jailers — 27-year-old Ruben Hernandez — was just sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and three years of “supervised release” after pleading guilty to “one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine to inmates,” KTSA reported. The other jailer — 30-year-old Gabriel Robert Ortiz — is already serving three years in prison for his role in the crime.
In addition to brisket tacos and “meth,” the sting operation included the help of cooperating inmates and undercover agents, the Express-News reported. This was a joint investigation by the FBI and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities became suspicious when Ortiz “repeatedly named his price of $700 to smuggle a cellphone to inmates,” court documents say, according to KSAT.
“Federal agents then placed recording equipment inside the jail, and months later, in April 2018, a cooperating inmate informed investigators that Ortiz had approached him offering to perform smuggling services in exchange for money,” KSAT reported.
Ortiz smuggled “meth” and brisket tacos into the jail twice during the sting, the TV station reports.
Then, in May 2018, Hernandez teamed up with Ortiz, documents say, according to KSAT.
“On the third delivery, Ortiz picked up brisket tacos and an ounce of ‘meth’ from undercover agents,” the Express-News reported. “Ortiz sneaked the tacos into the jail, and Hernandez later smuggled in the ‘meth.’”
The two detention officers split the $2,000 payment they received for smuggling, the newspaper reported.
They were both hired as probationary officers in July 2017 and in the same academy class, according to KSAT.
“We are proud to have partnered for the first time with the FBI on this joint sting operation,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a release, according to KENS5. “I am pleased with the conviction in this case, and my stance remains the same on rooting out misconduct.”