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On Tuesday, Ana Escobar Pabón, the Secretary of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR, as it is known in Spanish), admitted that there is a significant issue in the island’s prisons concerning the infiltration of illicit substances via drones, alongside officials who ignore the situation.
She noted that the agency is making efforts to address the situation. Her comments followed the announcement that a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico issued an indictment against 34 individuals, accusing them of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances within Puerto Rico’s prison system, among other offenses, including involvement in four overdose deaths.
“I trust that anyone involved in this unlawful conduct will be promptly removed from the correctional system—both inmates and DCR personnel,” the secretary stated. “The corruption within this agency is shameful.”
As per the court documents released on Tuesday, those indicted were involved in distributing fentanyl, suboxone, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and synthetic marijuana inside DCR facilities. Members of this drug syndicate used drones to smuggle the narcotics into the prisons, carrying packages with the illicit materials. Additional smuggling tactics included legal mail, family visits, official apathy/corruption, and physically tossing drugs into prison yards or concealing them within items like PlayStations, remote controls, food, and bags of ice.
Throughout the period concerned by the indictment, the influx of illegal drugs from the trafficking organization led to numerous overdoses, including at least four fatalities linked to a drug combination containing fentanyl.
Many of the defendants apprehended on Tuesday were associated with a prison gang known as Group 31, or “Los Tiburones.” This group controlled the distribution of considerable amounts of illegal drugs across various facilities managed by the DCR, which included, but were not limited to: Guerrero Correctional Institution in Aguadilla; Las Cucharas Sgto. Pedro Joel Rodríguez Matos Correctional Complex in Ponce; Bayamón Correctional Institution (501); and Guayama Maximum Security Correctional Institution (1000).
