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| New Prison Policy for Food Packages In New Mexico |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/26/2001 |
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Christmas won't include any unwanted fruitcakes for New Mexico prison inmates this year. To counteract the typical Christmastime rise in drugs being smuggled into prisons, state officials are barring families from sending holiday food packages to inmates. 'We have to have contraband control because people try to smuggle in drugs, even when the prison is throwing a Christmas party and is trying to do something nice for them,'' State Corrections Department spokesman Gerges Scott said. George Martinez, a correctional administrator at the Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs, said officers typically find 25 percent more drugs during routine searches of cells during the Christmas season. Families will hollow out candy bars and other food to place drugs inside, replacing the packaging so it appears it hasn't been opened, Martinez said. Under the new system, families or friends of inmates must order food purchases out of a catalog from Keefe Supply Co. Orders are limited to $70 each, Martinez said. The orders are sent directly from the company to the prison. 'This way no family members have had a chance to put their hands on it,'' Martinez said. Keefe does not offer fruitcakes or fruit baskets, but does have fruit drinks, dips and a variety of packaged chocolate cakes, he said. Martinez said he has received many phone calls from families upset about the policy, but most have understood once he's explained why it's necessary. Edith Bowling said she had hoped to send a fruitcake to her 47-year-old son, David Shannon, an inmate at the medium-security Lea County facility. Bowling said she had planned to order a 'merry mix'' fruit basket and the fruitcake from a gourmet food catalog. 'I know those guys are prisoners, but they're not letting them get anything from home,'' she said. 'They're human beings, too. ... It hurts the families more than it probably hurts the guys.'' |
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