A mother was accused of trying to sneak fentanyl into a juvenile detention facility in Sylmar as her child was held at the juvenile hall, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Jeny Morenoparra, whose child was housed at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall, allegedly tried to introduce the dangerous drug to her son as well as other youth being held at the detention facility.
“Introducing drugs into a secure facility endangers public safety and lives, and undermines rehabilitation,” Chief Probation Officer Guillermo Viera Rosa said.
The 41-year-old was scheduled to be arraigned Friday after being taken into custody without incident July 11 by the Los Angeles County Probation Department’s Special Enforcement Operations Team.
Morenoparra was initially contacted by a supervising deputy probation officer in 2023 and found to be in possession of more than 30 pills that tested positive for fentanyl, authorities said.
The district attorney said the woman was initially arrested in 2023 and released soon afterward without any charges being filed until he had the case reviewed in May.
“Fentanyl is too dangerous a threat — 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine — to not treat its lethality with the seriousness and immediacy it requires,” LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement.
Jail records showed Morenoparra was released on bond two days after her arrest.