Toxic ink: Synthetic drugs smuggled by mail ignite prison overdose crisis

Ricardo Torres-Cortez, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Oct 23, 2025

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LAS VEGAS -- Difficult-to-detect synthetic drugs smuggled into Nevada’s prison system through ink on mailed correspondence has caused a substantial increase of overdoses among the inmate population, according to the state’s prisons chief.

At least 127 inmates have been hospitalized with suspected overdoses this year, compared with 59 for the entirety of 2024, Nevada Department of Corrections Director James Dzurenda said at an Oct. 16 Interim Finance Committee meeting.

“That’s all being driven by the synthetic drug problem we have,” Dzurenda said.

By comparison, only five inmates overdosed four years ago, he added.

Additionally, six out of seven prison homicides reported in 2025 were connected to the synthetic drug, Dzurenda told state lawmakers.

Dzurenda revealed the crisis as he asked the committee to allocate about $350,000 for a firm to conduct a “comprehensive operations study” at High Desert Prison, which would in part address excessive overtime spending at the facility.

He said increased hospitalizations were worsening the overtime issue.

Contraband through mail

Dzurenda said the synthetic drugs are mostly made up of a chemical used to kill wasps.

The traffickers inject the chemical into partially-filled ink cartridges, print laced pages and then mail them into the prisons, he said.

“That is the most utilized synthetic drug that’s out there, because it has the most dramatic effect when they reprint these letters,” Dzurenda said.

Each piece of paper can be cut into hundreds of doses that can be smoked, he added. He said the practice is a national phenomenon.

“Those synthetic drugs affect everybody differently,” Dzurenda said. “One person can die; one person can be seriously changed of behavior where their behavior becomes so erratic and violent. Others can just collapse and pass out and become unconscious for hours.”

He said each overdose requires hospitalization and law enforcement monitoring, taking corrections officers off their assigned duties, and contributing to overtime.

The smell of the harmful chemical is so prevalent in housing units that it’s difficult to track its origin, Dzurenda said.

Ongoing crackdown

Mail scanners that can detect the drug cost about $250,000 each, he said. The department bought one that has been in use since 2024 and was working to secure more.

With the help of the Federal Communications Commission, prison staff also had begun to crack down on illicit cellphone usage, Dzurenda said.

The department has petitioned the Legislature for scanner funds. Dzurenda said he hoped the request would be taken up by Gov. Joe Lombardo as part of a possible crime bill in a likely special session this year.

Still, each specialized device can only scan about 200 letters a day at each facility; the largest facility receives thousands of pieces of mail a day, on average, he said.

Lombardo’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

To alleviate the issue, which would also reduce excess overtime, Dzurenda said the prison system has to tackle the root of the problem through substance use treatment.

Dzurenda said gangs were targeting vulnerable victims.

“They target them to sell them the synthetic drugs, and they end up using it because they can’t get anything else and it’s cheaper, and it’s not detectable,” he said.

‘The ball just keeps getting moved’

Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno, D-Clark County, and other lawmakers pressed Dzurenda for not disclosing the synthetic drug problem prior to the meeting. They said the 2025 Legislature had “jumped through hoops” to provide funds to alleviate staffing shortages.

The daily average number of employees working overtime had increased from about 67 since the Legislature was in session to about 80 now, Dzurenda said.

“So it’s frustrating to be sitting here … just a few months out of the Legislative session, and now we have to do another study to determine how to help you with overtime and hearing about this synthetic drug problem that we did not hear about during the Legislative session,” Monroe-Moreno said.

She said that “the ball just keeps being moved to get more money that the state just doesn’t have,” arguing that the study could be conducted internally.

“I don’t know why we have to spend more money to hire someone to come in and tell us how to manage the staff that we have,” Monroe-Moreno said. “If that’s the case, why the heck do we have a warden that runs a facility if he can’t manage the staff that he has and figure out what’s the best way to manage that staff?”

The committee ultimately approved the $349,000 request.

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