By Jon Johnson
BONITA – Two women were arrested and booked into the Graham County Adult Detention Facility on Feb. 11 after allegedly attempting to smuggle 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine and other contraband into Fort Grant Prison.
According to reports from the Graham County Sheriff’s Office and the Arizona Department of Corrections, a 2002 Mitsubishi Mirage 4-door sedan was seen on prison surveillance pulling up on the east side of the prison fence by the Fort Grant kitchen access around noon. At that time, an inmate was also seen running from the kitchen wall to the fence line.
Upon further investigation, a prison employee located two women near the car. The women claimed they were there to visit a prison employee who lives in the nearby apartments. The women, later identified as Desirae Solares, 37, of Glendale, as the driver, and Juanita Gonzalez, 35, of Phoenix, as the passenger, then got into the sedan and left.
At that time, prison employees located a cereal box stuck in the prison’s barbed wire and another cereal box on the ground. One cereal box contained three THC vape pens, 22 ounces of tobacco, 16.25 ounces of methamphetamine, and four cell phones. The second cereal box contained 7 ounces of methamphetamine, 58 sticks of chewing gum, and two cell phones. Surveillance footage reviewed later showed Solares attempt to throw the cereal box over the fence to an inmate. The headlights then appear, and the inmate and subject run in opposite directions, with the Mitsubishi picking up Solares.
Prison officials contacted the Graham County Sheriff’s Office and requested assistance in locating the women. Flock cameras showed the Mitsubishi northbound on Highway 266 from Armory at about 12:39 p.m. Deputies then encountered the vehicle northbound on Highway 191 near 8th Street in Safford. The deputies followed the vehicle and then conducted a traffic stop at Highway 191 and 11th Avenue.
Upon questioning, the driver, Solares, allegedly told the deputy that she was there to visit a prison employee with whom she has a romantic relationship. Still, he wasn’t home, so they left. Solares later claimed that the prison employee had hired her as an escort and that the women had agreed to exchange sex for money. However, the prison does not have a record for an employee by the name they gave. The passenger, Gonzalez, allegedly denied being at the prison and said they were going to visit a friend in New Mexico and they had just taken a wrong turn. She later said Solares didn’t tell her why they were going to prison housing, and that she was riding to New Mexico.
Solares denied the officers permission to search her vehicle, so a K-9 was brought for a cursory sniff of the vehicle, and the dog alerted to illicit substances—a subsequent search located a small amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
The women were arrested, and before being booked into jail, Solares admitted to having more drugs concealed in her crotch. She then retrieved a small glass pipe and a small plastic baggie of meth. Additionally, 15 counterfeit Oxycodone pills were found in her purse.
Both women were booked into the Graham County jail on charges of promoting prison contraband, possession of a dangerous drug, possession of a dangerous drug for sale, possession of drug paraphernalia, and transportation of a dangerous drug for sale. Solares also faces possible additional drug charges for the fentanyl-laced counterfeit Oxycodone found in her purse.
