Santa Fe County jail guard arrested on drug charges
Jul. 13—A former Santa Fe County jail guard is facing criminal charges after he was accused of bringing Suboxone strips into the jail for a prisoner.
Seth Christopher Flores of Edgewood is charged with bringing contraband into the jail, distribution of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance for allegedly bringing three cellophane-wrapped packets of the drug into the facility while he was on duty July 2, according to a statement of probable cause.
Suboxone is a brand name for buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid addiction. The drug has become trafficked and abused, particularly in jails and prisons, because the strips are easy to conceal.
Flores, 30, said federal inmate Richard Tercero threatened his daughter and offered him $5,000 to bring the drug into the jail, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office statement of probable cause, but later said he had didn't receive any money from the exchange.
Flores said he'd obtained the drug from an inmate Francisco Bencomo's sister Laura Bencomo, who also is charged in connection to the allegations, according to the statement.
Flores, who had worked at the jail since late 2017, declined to comment on the charges Monday except to say that he has resigned from the county and is working elsewhere.
"I made a mistake and I'm trying to handle it to the best of my ability and take care of me and my daughter," he said.
Laura Bencomo — who is charged with conspiracy to bring contraband into a jail, distribution of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance — could not be reached for comment.
Both defendants were arrested and released on unsecured $2,500 appearance bonds.
The jail's Security Threat Intelligence Unit had been investigating a tip regarding contraband being brought into the jail for about three weeks leading up to Flores' arrest, according to the probable cause statement.
The investigator had received information a "drop" was set to occur on July 2, and knew the intended recipient was Tercero, the statement says.
He identified Flores as one of four guards scheduled to work in an area of the jail where Tercero was housed. The four guards were separated and searched, according to the statement, and Flores had three cellophane-wrapped bundles of Suboxone strips in his front pocket.
Flores told a sheriff's deputy Tercero gave him a piece of paper with an address on it in early June and he went to apartment, knocked on the door and told the woman who answered it he was there to pick up package for Francisco Bencomo, case records show.
Recorded conversations between inmate Francisco Bencomo and Laura Bencomo indicate she was participating in bringing Suboxone into the jail, according the statement.
Another inmate and his girlfriend also discussed the scheme in phone calls, the statement says.
Drugs also were brought into the facility on May 15 and June 5, and Flores also worked in C-Block on June 5, the statement says.
Santa Fe County spokeswoman Carmelina Hart declined to say whether anyone else is facing charges in connection with the incident.
Hart said the county uses a body scanner and trained K-9 dogs among other measures to combat the introduction of contraband into the jail.
"Nonetheless," she wrote in an email, "... combatting the introduction of contraband into the facility has and will always be a daily fight."
