Jail employee accused in plot to smuggle drugs to inmates

EVERETT, Wash. -- A corrections employee at the Snohomish County Jail and eight inmates have been arrested in connection with a plot to smuggle narcotics into the jail, sheriff’s officials said.

Alexis Wafstet, 44, who has worked at the jail since 2014, has been placed on administrative leave, said Courtney O’Keefe of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

The smuggling was discovered after other corrections staff became aware of possible narcotics coming into the Snohomish County Jail on May 3, The Daily Herald reported.

The Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force then launched an investigation into the source of the drugs entering the jail.

Wafstet was identified as a possible suspect during the investigation and she told investigators she had a controlled substance at her home, O’Keefe said.

She turned over a package wrapped in what appeared to be a disposable glove with heroin, buprenorphine and unidentified pills, O’Keefe said.

Wafstet was arrested and booked into the Snohomish County Jail this weekon two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance. She has since posted bond and was released. It wasn't immediately known if she had retained a lawyer to comment on her behalf.