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4 conspired to smuggle heroin
Published 11:02am Thursday, January 12, 2012Law enforcement believes that four women living at Fergus Falls’ CARE drug treatment unit regularly received heroin and illicit prescription pills during the latter part of 2011, according to Otter Tail County court documents released Wednesday.
On Monday, Fergus Falls Police arrested Rachel Lynn Campbell, 33, of Minneapolis, for her involvement in the heroin smuggling. She was charged with six felony counts Tuesday.
Campbell is believed to be the mastermind of the smuggling operation, calling suppliers in the Twin Cities to send the drugs for her personal use. She then allegedly enlisted three other women – Trista Marie Cloud, Nicole Mae Rindahl and Tina Marie Bebeau – to receive some of the packages in order to avoid suspicion. They were then given some of the drugs as a form of payment.
Police began investigating the drug smuggling in early November, when CARE unit staff began reporting suspicious packages sent to the facility. Heroin and prescription pills were allegedly found hidden inside of clothing, bath products, and at least one cigarette pack sent to the women.
Police Chief Kile Bergren said he appreciated the assistance of the staff in rooting out the drugs.
“They were definitely frustrated, and as far as I’m concerned, very cooperative,” he said.
On Dec. 15, while the incidents were still under investigation, Cloud and Rindahl were taken to jail on warrants issued by Cass County. Around 9 p.m., Cloud was found not breathing at the jail and was taken to Lake Region Hospital. It allegedly appeared that her cardiac arrest stemmed from a drug overdose.
Records state that Rindahl confirmed police suspicions in a subsequent interview, stating that Cloud had hid some heroin in her belly button and it into jail. The two of them later ingested the heroin in jail shortly before Cloud’s cardiac arrest, Rindahl said.
Cloud is currently in a coma and on life support, records state.
During a Dec. 16 police interview, Campbell allegedly admitted to organizing the drug smuggling, naming Cloud, Randahl and Bebeau as coconspirators. The four of them would take turns placing calls to Campbell’s suppliers, and they would trade off the drugs in different places in the CARE unit. Rindahl and Bebeau later allegedly admitted the same.
Bergren said the situation and the great lengths the women took to keep the drugs is a powerful example of what addiction can cause.
“It’s such a powerful force that people will go to any lengths to feed (it),” he said.
Cooperating with the Postal Service, police later gained more information about how the drugs made their way into the CARE facility. Campbell’s alleged suppliers were inventive in their methods, hiding heroin in the soles of shoes or in shampoo and body wash bottles. At least twice, drugs were smuggled in via the “doubled up” fabric portion in the zipper area of a pair of jeans.
In all, police obtained about 3.6 grams of heroin and several prescription pills. However, a couple of other women in the facility told police they received drugs from the women.
Campbell is being held on $500,000 bail without conditions or $200,000 with conditions.
Mail gets through without being searched? Unbelievable.
It really bothers me that the treatment center has been investigating this since November. If its suspicious search it, and drug test the people who are suspicious. This puts the all the clients at risk and they stand by and wait for someone to go into coma. How long were they going to wait? What if someone would have died? If I had a family member there and knew they were put at risk I would be very upset. I think its time to turn this treatment center around. Lets think about the clients and getting them better. The proper help is out there and it used to be at the RTC years ago. Is it still there now? I am not sure, but I know this would not have happened at another facility. The suspicious client would have been removed from the center ASAP and no one else would have been hurt or put in harms way. Addiction is a serious condition and with the right help success can be there. It has to start with the client first!
I worked on the locked treatment unit when it was still located at the Regional Treatment Center. I can tell you that EVERYTHING is searched before it is given to the patients. Drugs can be smuggled in very small spaces that are almost impossible to detect short of having a drug sniffing dog check each item. It seems that the staff did the best they could. The article states the person overdosed while at the county jail. The jail is more secure than the CARE unit and the drugs made it through their security as well. No one waited until someone was in a coma to do anything. The investigation had already been going on and the people responsible were being dealt with by the police.
I can recall being on the receiving end of alot of verbal abuse (as well as threats) from patients. My experience was not uncommon. It is a tough job and the staff at CARE do it well.