MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – In early March, Local 10 News uncovered a current public corruption investigation involving drugs being smuggled into Miami jails by a ring of people, including corrections officers.
On Thursday, arrests in this case were made.
The first was Diego Loazia. Local 10 News’ cameras were rolling as Miami-Dade police detectives escorted him into a cruiser. He later appeared in federal court.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said he’s accused of supplying the drugs to corrections officers so they could sell them to inmates.
The second arrest was Nolan Frazier, a now former corrections officer who was allegedly involved.
He also appeared in federal court Thursday.
A third suspect, Kenyatta Sears, was arrested in Virginia, and the fourth, Joseph Peeler is currently incarcerated at the Pretrial Detention Center.
According to an indictment, Sears and Peeler are accused of paying Frazier to use his position to smuggle in contraband that Peeler purchased from Loazia.
In early May, Local 10 News reported how defense attorneys are no longer able to take paper discovery into the jails when they see clients.
Attorneys told Local 10 News’ Annaliese Garcia that packages are being mailed to the jails with false sender information, and inside are papers laced with drugs.
Local 10 News also reported on several people who died inside the jail due to drugs.
Garcia asked corrections officials about people who overdosed while in custody, but survived because of Narcan. Miami-Dade Corrections said the overdose-reversing drug was administered 25 times in 2022 alone.
Whether or not those overdoses and deaths are connected to the investigation and the arrests is still unclear.
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