Smuggling Drugs Into Jail 

September 21, 2025 – San Diego County Sheriff's Office officials report that a North County man has been arrested on suspicion of mailing a drug-laced letter to the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in Santee.

On June 17, 2025, a narcotic-laced letter was sent through the U.S. Mail to an incarcerated person housed at the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility.

The piece of mail was ultimately intercepted by deputies assigned to the Sheriff's Mail Processing Center (MPC).

The Sheriff's Detention Investigations Unit (DIU) began a criminal investigation, which identified Jay Tony Naotala (55) as being responsible for mailing the narcotic-laced letter to a San Diego County jail.

On Friday, September 19, Sheriff's DIU Detectives arrested Naotala at the North County Superior Court, where he was attending an unrelated court hearing. He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on several charges, including bringing a controlled substance into jail.

A reminder from the San Diego County Sheriff's Office: sending a controlled substance into a jail is a felony with a penalty of up to six years in custody.

Source: San Diego County Sheriff's Office