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New Mexico Corrections Department officials have uncovered a new form of contraband, after the department’s Security Threat Intelligence Unit on March 26 intercepted a letter saturated in “Spice” at one of the state’s correctional facilities.
A second letter soaked in “Spice” was intercepted on March 30, the Corrections Department said in a news release.
Investigators noticed that the paper was different from that used in normal mail, and there were indicators that caught their attention immediately, the release said. The paper was tested and found to be saturated with “Spice.”
“Spice” has been defined as a psychoactive herbal or chemical product that supposedly mimics the effect, when consumed, of cannabis, but it doesn’t register positive for cannabis or other illegal drugs using standard drug-screening procedures.
Prison security units found that a 1-by-1-inch square of “Spice Paper” sells for $5 and that approximately 25 such squares can fit on a letter-sized sheet of paper, the department said in the release. Greeting cards containing “Spice Paper” are going for about $250 in prison prices, the release said.
The name of the prison where the letters were intercepted has not been released, since the investigation is ongoing.
Meanwhile, the Corrections Department has its officers at all its prisons on alert for this new form of contraband, and law enforcement agencies are being informed about the practice.
