SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper on Thursday called for the California Legislature to pass stricter laws that punishes those selling fentanyl as a large amount of the deadly synthetic opioid is smuggled into his jail facilities.

The sheriff, who spoke at a news conference at the Main Jail in Downtown Sacramento, said his deputies have confiscated 500 grams of fentanyl that recently arrested inmates tried to smuggle into his two jail facilities this year.

“That is enough fentanyl to kill the entire population of Elk Grove,” Cooper said about the confiscated fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a powerful and potentially addictive drug that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin. The California Department of Justice has said two milligrams of the opioid can result in overdose and potentially death.

To demonstrate how minuscule two milligrams is, the sheriff said a package the size of a sugar packet could contain 500 lethal fentanyl doses.

In the past 14 months, the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office determined that six out of eight inmates who died while in custody died from ingesting either fentanyl or other narcotics. He said the other two deaths were due to a medical condition and violence allegedly committed by another inmate.

Despite three physical searches, including a digital body scan and a strip search and a video warning about fentanyl played for inmates during booking, Cooper said fentanyl continues to be smuggled mostly by newly arrested inmates or those convicted and ordered to serve time in the jail. He said those dealing the drugs behind bars are preying on inmates addicted to narcotics.

“They’re ruthless, they don’t care,” Cooper said about inmates smuggling drugs into the jail. “They secrete drugs in their body cavity; in their rectum.”

He said the digital body scans can spot anomalies of inmates during the jail booking process, but sometimes the drugs are tucked so far into a body. “It’s impossible for us to catch it all,” he said.

The body scan spotted an anomaly on one inmate, who was taken to a doctor to determine was what inside the body cavity. Cooper said the doctor didn’t see anything hidden on the inmate, who in fact did have drugs in his rectum. The inmate and his cellmate suffered a drug overdose while in custody. Cooper said the inmate survived but his cellmate did not.

A year ago, a Sheriff’s Office investigation into a spike in overdoses at the jail led to the arrest of six people, including a member of the jail medical staff, for their alleged involvement in an operation to smuggle drugs into the jail in exchange for money. Those arrested included Zareonna Harris, who was working on-call for Avid Healthcare Services, a county contractor. Harris is no longer an Avid employee, according to the company.

Proposition 36 and drug court

Cooper’s news conference on Thursday comes as California voters decide whether to approve Proposition 36, a November state ballot measure that will undo a handful of criminal justice reforms that were approved by voters in 2014’s Proposition 47.

Prop. 36, pushed for by a coalition of district attorneys from across the state and major retailers like Target and Walmart, would crack down on retail theft and fentanyl. Its supporters argue it would close gaps in the state’s sentencing rules to bring more accountability.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and other top Democrats are opposed to Prop. 36. Newsom has said Prop. 36 could take away funding — required under 2014’s Prop. 47 – for drug treatment and other programs.

The sheriff said the California drug court system was successful in forcing convicted drug offenders into narcotics rehabilitation programs. After Prop. 47 went into effect, drug offenders only use drug court to have their criminal conviction expunged.

“Bringing drug court back, hopefully through Prop. 36, will change that,” Cooper said Thursday.

In July, Newsom lashed out at Prop. 36, which he said has less to do with addressing retail theft and is more of “a drug policy reform” that increases a drug possession charge to a felony. He said Prop. 36 will increase prison populations “by tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, over the next decade at a profound cost to the taxpayers.”

Narcan used at the jails

Cooper said fentanyl overdoses have become so prevalent that anyone found unconscious will likely be given naloxone, commonly known by its brand name Narcan, a nasal spray medication that can be administered to restore breathing to those suffering opiate overdoses.

“What troubles me is the new normal, whether you’re in the jail or the street,” Cooper told reporters Wednesday. “If you’re found unconscious, they’re gonna administer Narcan ... and that is insane because we accept it.”

The sheriff said deputies and medical staff at his jails have administered 75 doses of Narcan to revive inmates suffering from a suspected drug overdose this year. Jail staff also place Narcan in the jail cell pods to be accessible to the inmates. Cooper said jail staff have replenished 110 doses of Narcan in the “opioid rescue boxes” in the jail pods, so he worries some inmates are overdosing and not reporting it to jail staff.

Cooper said a “hit” of narcotics (or one-tenth of a gram) will sell on the street for about $50; and one gram of narcotics smuggled into a jail or prison can sell for $150 to $200. He said a pill smuggled into a jail or prison can cost $150.

“If you’re a drug dealer, you’re in the business to make money,” Cooper said. “You don’t care who you sell to or who dies from the product. Drug dealers are the scum of the earth.”

The sheriff said played audio recordings of two calls to inmates, saying the inmates and their relative spoke in code about obtaining fentanyl inside the jail.

“I did overdose twice here, though,” one inmate is heard telling a relative in a phone call from the jail. “Off fentanyl, I died twice right there in my cell. They brought me back. You know, they pronounce you dead. They said ‘you were blue.’”

Then, the inmate and his relative quickly changed the subject of their phone conversation to the length of the inmate’s hair and how he planned to avoid a haircut until he’s released.

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