BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

A status hearing has been set for July 26 in Los Alamos Magistrate Court for Tamara Torres, 23, of Santa Fe on charges of bringing contraband into a jail, possession of a controlled substance – methamphetamine and heroin, possession of a narcotic drug – methamphetamine, and tampering with evidence.

Court documents indicate that Los Alamos Police Cpl. Jemuel Montoya was notified by Los Alamos Detention Center staff that Torres had admitted to having packaged heroin and methamphetamine inside a body cavity. Torres was transported to Los Alamos Medical Center to have the package removed.

Montoya’s report states that when he spoke to Torres at the emergency room, she told him that while she was in holding at the Espanola Police Department waiting transportation to the Los Alamos Detention Center, she and another inmate extracted the drugs from her vagina, used some, wrapped them back up and re-inserted them into her vagina. Torres told Montoya the reason she came forward was because they were causing her internal pain. The report states that three small packages were removed.

A bench warrant was issued April 26 for Torres following her failure to appear before Judge Jason Lidyard in First Judicial District Court on four charges of shoplifting and it was during her arrest on that warrant that the new charges were incurred.