CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For months, the Mecklenburg County Jail has been seeking solutions to keep drugs from reaching inmates.
While the jail has had some luck stopping fentanyl and other contraband from reaching inmates, legal mail has been a thorn in their side. Until now, thanks to new technology that allows deputies to screen everything coming into the jail.
Time ticks away inside the jail and for Sheriff Garry McFadden, it feels like with every passing minute, they're having to readjust.
"People would soak greeting cards in a fentanyl solution," McFadden said. "They'd then dry the cards out and send them to inmates through the postal mail."
McFadden said once the letter was obtained, inmates would rip it up and soak the paper in water that they'd drink. McFadden said while his deputies closed the door on some of that by embracing technology that digitizes the majority of the mail, another door was left open. By law, officers cannot open mail.
After months of seeking a solution, McFadden said the jail found the answer it was looking for.
"We have a new scanning system," McFadden said.
Mecklenburg County is the first jail in North Carolina to use technology through the company RaySecur. It uses T-rays to scan paper or an envelope without opening it. The rays detect if something like drugs has been soaked inside the material.
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.