Two indicted on charges they smuggled drugs into county jail

Dale Smith Jr. and Colin C. Dowling were indicted last month by a Belknap County grand jury for their role in a scheme to slip drugs into the county jail last year.

Smith, 28, of 20 Blueberry Lane in Laconia, and Dowling, 36, of 138 Borough Road in Canterbury, are accused of conspiring to introduce contraband narcotics into the Belknap County jail between Dec. 15, 2022 and March 23, 2023, according to court documents.

Dowling was incarcerated at the Belknap County Jail and, speaking in code, coordinated the introduction of drugs into the jail with Smith, who was not incarcerated at the time.

Smith is accused of soaking handwritten letters in a solution containing the synthetic cannabinoid 5F-ADB and mailing them to Dowling at the jail. Corrections officers became suspicious and listened to phone calls between Dowling and Smith, who spoke in code to try to avoid detection, and determined the pair attempted to smuggle drugs into the facility.

Smith is scheduled for arraignment in Belknap Superior Court at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16, and Dowling, who is currently incarcerated at the Grafton County Jail for two probation violations on $10,000 bond according to corrections officers, is scheduled for arraignment then as well. Dowling was appointed a public defender.

“Lt. Patrick O’Reilly brought this to our attention,” Sgt. Peter John of the Belknap County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday. 

John said the material the letters were written on appeared to be odd, which caught the attention of corrections officers. 

Sheriff’s deputies brought the letter to the New Hampshire State Police crime lab which determined it had been soaked in a solution containing synthetic cannabinoids. 

Staff at the jail then listened in to phone conversations made between Dowling and Smith, who mentioned an item to be mailed containing narcotics. 

The sheriff’s office isn't sure how many times the pair coordinated this sort of smuggling operation but the investigation lasted several months before officers seized the incriminating letter.

Inmates attempting to bring contraband into the facility isn’t unheard of, but the particular method the pair attempted is unique.

“I haven’t dealt with it before,” John said. “It shows the desperation of people who will go to extreme lengths to use drugs.”

Jail Superintendent Michelle Wetherbee said the introduction of contraband into the jail represents a serious safety concern for staff and inmates.

“There’s been an ongoing issue where people with addiction issues attempt to bring drugs into the jail,” she said. 

Individuals have attempted numerous times to bring drugs or other contraband into the facility on their person over the course of her tenure there. Jail staff have found moderate success in combating the problem, she said.

“We try to do our best.”

Wetherbee declined to speak about the charges filed against Smith and Dowling, citing an ongoing criminal investigation and likely future charges.

Dowling was previously indicted in Belknap County for trafficking methamphetamine. A grand jury charged him with possession of more than 1 ounce of methamphetamine with intent to distribute in 2019 and also of second degree assault, domestic violence and burglary charges after he was accused of breaking into the apartment of an intimate partner and strangling that person in Tilton in 2022. 

Smith was also previously indicted by a grand jury in Belknap County in 2019. He was accused of two counts of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and four counts of possession of a controlled drug — methamphetamine — and the narcotic pain reliever buprenorphine.