Forty-two year old Vincent Leyva was arrested and placed in the El Paso Downtown Detention Facility at 2:18 PM on March 13, 2023. The El Paso, Texas, jail is a 1,000-bed facility, and Mr. Leyva occupied a cell for only four days before being pronounced deceased on March 16, 2023, at 12:16 PM. The Medical Examiner ruled his death an accident and the medical cause was “Esophageal Rupture Contributing: Acute mixed Drug Toxicity (Methamphetamine, Fentanyl)”.

Fentanyl is Being Smuggled into County Jails

A 34-year-old inmate in a Florida county jail died of fentanyl poisoning, as so many have in recent years. How does the drug get into jails?

In March of this year a public corruption investigation in Florida involved drugs being smuggled into jails. Corrections officers were among a ring of people involved in the drug smuggling activity.

In May of 2022, when the report of a 25-year-old being pronounced dead of possible fentanyl poisoning in an Oklahoma jail, he was the seventh inmate that had died so far that year. This drug-related event occurred even when administrators in the jail were increasing their efforts to prevent drugs and other contraband from being smuggled inside. An investigation found that a detention officer was caught with contraband in her vehicle, and she was arrested in May 2022.

Also, see Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this series.

Providing help to inmates now or formerly detained in a Texas municipal or county jail is one of the purposes of this website. There is never an intention of inferring that wrongs have occurred on the part of people or entities.

–Guest Contributor