Pa. police: Returned letter led to prison drug ring

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The incoming mail at a Pennsylvania prison was carrying drugs, yet it was a returned outgoing letter that led to charges against four people in a prison drug-smuggling scheme using postage stamps to conceal narcotics, authorities said Wednesday.

Three current inmates and a former inmate at Bucks County Prison face charges after an undeliverable letter was returned to the prison last month.

The Bucks County Courier Times reported the letter was searched like all incoming mail, revealing what authorities said was one inmate’s offer to buy Suboxone from the outside for a lower price than he would pay inside the prison.

Investigators said the drug, used to treat opiate addiction, was smuggled into the prison underneath postage stamps affixed to letters addressed to prisoners. Suboxone is available as a film that dissolves quickly on the tongue.

The former inmate, Michael Taurino, sent the concealed drugs to two current inmates, authorities said.

According to the intercepted letter, the films were then sold for $40 each.

All four suspects face contraband and conspiracy charges. Taurino is jailed on $150,000 bail and the other three are already serving sentences on ranging from assault to drug distribution.