Woman Sentenced for Smuggling K2-Laced Bibles into Texas Prisons

A Wichita Falls woman will serve a six-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to mailing Bibles laced with K2 — also known as “spice” or synthetic marijuana — into Texas Department of Criminal Justice units.

The agency said Henna Havila Martinez concealed synthetic cannabinoids and narcotics in Bibles, religious materials, magazines, newspapers and legal mail before sending the packages to inmates in TDCJ custody.

“This case underscores the persistent challenges we face in contraband entering our facilities through the mail,” TDCJ Executive Director Bobby Lumpkin said in a Thursday press release.

The agency launched an investigation after staff at the Allred Unit noticed leather-covered Bibles with heavily saturated sheets of paper that tested positive for synthetic cannabinoids.

Staff notified the Texas Board of Criminal Justice Office of Inspector General to investigate.

Investigators then traced the packages back to the Office Depot in Wichita Falls — a North Texas town just 15 miles south of the Oklahoma border — where store surveillance showed Martinez using the self-checkout to mail packages to those in TDCJ custody.

Authorities witnessed her mailing three packages with 360 grams of synthetic cannabinoids.

When investigators conducted a subsequent search of her house, they seized 4.9 lbs of synthetic cannabinoids in various forms, including liquid, powder and sheets.

What is K2?

K2 is one of the many trade names or brands for synthetic designer drugs that are intended to mimic THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

These products are often packaged without information as to their health and safety risks. State public health and poison centers have issued warnings in response to adverse health effects regarding the use of products containing these synthetic cannabinoids.

These adverse effects included tachycardia (elevated heart rate), elevated blood pressure, unconsciousness, tremors, seizures, vomiting, hallucinations, agitation, anxiety, pallor, numbness and tingling.

Is K2 legal in Texas?

No. K2 and similar synthetic cannabinoids, as well as other synthetic drugs, are illegal in Texas, according to the Office of the Texas Attorney General.

The attorney general's office, and other agencies, investigates and prosecutes the businesses and individuals who sell illegal synthetic drugs to Texans.