Hamilton | DNSO

Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott says he hopes the arrest of a 36-year-old woman accused of smuggling nearly two ounces of fentanyl into the jail will lead to the “bigger fish involved.”

Corrections staff discovered the synthetic narcotic on Roxanne Hamilton’s person after the DNSO’s K9 alerted them to its presence and Judge Darren McElfresh authorized a bodily intrusion warrant, Scott told the Wild Rivers Outpost.

Deputies arrested Hamilton at her 1030 K Street home on April 19 on a local warrant. She’s a suspect in other drug-related cases, and area residents had complained of suspicious activities connected with that residence for about two to three months, Scott said.

Deputies served a search warrant at that address on Tuesday, detaining four other subjects. The sheriff said those other subjects are part of the ongoing investigation. A fifth individual fled the scene, he said.

“Inside the residence we did locate a loaded firearm and an enormous amount of hypodermic needles,” Scott said. “The bottom line is the house is unfit for living (in). There’s no running water, garbage all over the place, a huge hole in the front yard, broken down cars in the back, garbage in the back. It’s very unsanitary. We have called in Del Norte County Code Enforcement.”

According to Scott, deputies are also still trying to determine who actually owns Hamilton’s home.  

“Roxanne Hamilton is the one claiming that she’s the homeowner and she has some papers — whether they’re fictitious or not, I can’t confirm yet,” he told the Outpost. “We want to make an impact and do what we can to curtail this fentanyl problem (that) every county in the State of California is dealing with.”

Hamilton is currently at the jail on charges of possession of narcotics for sale, transportation of narcotics and bringing a controlled substance into a correctional facility. According to Scott, the amount of fentanyl she had on her person “easily could result in major, major problems for our entire jail if that was to be released.”

The DNSO is also working with the Del Norte County District Attorney’s Office on this investigation.

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