Police: Social worker unknowingly brought Suboxone into Everett jail

Published 9:15 am Thursday, December 19, 2024

EVERETT — A social worker, unknowingly, almost brought a drug meant to treat opioid addiction to a person held at the Snohomish County Jail last week, jail officials said.

On the afternoon of Dec. 13, the social worker came to the downtown Everett jail for a scheduled visit with the inmate, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. The social worker brought a package marked as legal documents.

But jail staff had learned the package would instead contain prescription opiates, according to the sheriff’s office.

When the social worker arrived, staff detained her for questioning. Investigators examined the package in front of the inmate, a 35-year-old man. They reportedly found at least nine sublingual strips of what they suspected to be Suboxone, a prescription opioid used to treat addiction. The sheriff’s office said Suboxone is often abused in jails.

Just after 4 p.m. Thursday, the sheriff’s office added that “it appears the social worker was not involved in the plan and unknowingly transported the narcotics into the facility.”

Police did not arrest the social worker for the incident. The investigation remained active Thursday.

For the past couple years, drugs have been a major issue in the county lockup.

Multiple people detained in the jail have died of drug overdoses. Last year, two inmates had to be revived after another smuggled fentanyl powder in his body into the jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

Before that, seven inmates reportedly had to be taken to the hospital after apparently overdosing on smuggled fentanyl.

A week before this most recent incident, an inmate brought into the jail a larger supply of similar opiate strips, as well as methamphetamine, the sheriff’s office said. Jail staff confiscated the drugs before they could circulate in the jail.

Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.