Four charged with smuggling drugs into Deschutes County Jail

(Update: Comment from jail nurse practitioner)

A Portland mother and son and two Bend residents have been charged with smuggling a prescription drug that’s used to treat opioid addiction but also often abused to two Deschutes County Jail inmates by hiding them in packaging to avoid detection, deputies said Wednesday.

Detectives with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Street Crimes Unit received information in January and began investigating the illegal introduction of drugs into the jail, Sgt. William Bailey said. They identified numerous packages sent to inmates that contained a substance believed to be Suboxone, concealed in packaging to avoid detection.

The sergeant said several of the packages were addressed to Phillip M. Anderson, 29, of Portland, who was arrested last fall on car theft, heroin and methamphetamine possession and other charges, including fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.

Anderson’s mother, Deborah L. Anderson, 58, of Portland, was identified as the sender of the items, Bailey said.

Several raids were conducted, including one at Deborah Anderson’s home in southwest Portland. Evidence seized included meth, heroin and other drugs, as well as packaging materials, scales and other evidence linking her to the Deschutes County case, deputies said.

Deborah Anderson was arrested by Portland police and jailed on arrest warrants and local charges, and later transferred to the Deschutes County Jail. She and her son face charges including supplying contraband and criminal conspiracy.

During the investigation, more packages that had been sent to jail inmate Derek Chamberlain, 32, of Bend, were identified, searched and also found to contain suspected Suboxone, Bailey said. Chamberlain was arrested in February on charges including criminal mischief, theft, ID theft and fraudulent use of a credit card, court records show.

A friend of Chamberlain’s, Zachary Hahn, 29, of Bend, was identified as the suspected sender of the packages, and both men were arrested on those charges last month.

Asked about any relationship between the cases, Bailey said, “We do believe there was some sharing of information on how to conceal the contraband.”

The investigation is ongoing, he said, and more arrests are expected.

Jail nurse practitioner Eden Aldrich said, “This was more of a case of getting contraband into the facility, probably for somebody who could potentially have a history of an opiate addiction, or simply for the means of selling or trading within the facility.”

The sheriff’s office thanked the U.S. Postal Service, Portland Police Bureau and DEA for their assistance.

“We know many Americans struggle with substance abuse disorders related to opioid drugs (heroin or prescription painkillers),” Bailey said in a news release, and the jail “has specific protocols in place to both safely monitor someone who is intoxicated and carefully manage their detoxification.”

“Our goal is to release a person back to our community not under the influence of any intoxicant,” the sergeant said.

Bailey said Suboxone is typically prescribed by a professional medical provider to assist with detoxing from opioids and is an opioid agonist (buprenorphine) with a blocker (naloxone).

“It is known to be abused in place of other opioids, as well as a treatment for opioid abuse,” he said.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, “Like other opioids commonly abused, buprenorphine is capable of producing significant euphoria. Data from other countries indicate that buprenorphine has been abused by various routes of administration (sublingual, intranasal and injection) and has gained popularity as a heroin substitute and as a primary drug of abuse.” (Information from https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_chem_info/buprenorphine.pdf)

Additional information on Suboxone is available at: https://www.samhsa.gov/medication-assisted-treatment/treatment/buprenorphine)