Sheriff: Dartmouth jail medical technician and man held there charged in synthetic drug smuggling
Investigators watched the technician hand the drug to the man inside the jail and later found a loaded, unsecured gun in her car, the Bristol County Sheriff's Office said, according to WJAR and WBSM.
DARTMOUTH A contracted medical technician at the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth and a man held at the jail have been charged with conspiring to bring synthetic marijuana into the facility, the Bristol County Sheriff's Office said in an announcement reported by WJAR and WBSM.
The technician, Malissa Goff, 39, of Fall River, and Darren Andrade, 38, of New Bedford were arraigned Nov. 3 and released on personal recognizance on these charges, the sheriff's office said. WBSM reported that Sheriff Paul Heroux named New Bedford District Court as the court, and both stations reported that Andrade remains in custody at the jail on unrelated charges.
What the sheriff says happened
The investigation began after synthetic cannabinoids known as K2 and spice were reported to have been brought into the jail by medical staff, the sheriff's office said, and WBSM reported that the office's Internal Affairs Unit and Special Investigations Unit ran the investigation over several weeks. The investigation found that Andrade had enlisted Goff to help carry the drug and deliver it inside the building, according to the sheriff's office.
Investigators watched Goff hand the drug to Andrade inside the jail, the sheriff's office said, and Dartmouth Week dated that handoff Oct. 7, a Wednesday. Investigators then searched Goff's car and found a loaded firearm that was not secured, both stations reported.
The charges
Goff is charged with delivering drugs or articles to prisoners, conspiracy and improper storage of a firearm, and Andrade is charged with conspiracy, the sheriff's office said. The charges are allegations, and Goff and Andrade are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Under state law, giving or delivering any drug or article to a prisoner in a jail or house of correction without the permission of the superintendent or keeper is punishable by up to five years in state prison, up to two years in a jail or house of correction, or a fine of up to $1,000.
State law also makes it a crime to store or keep a firearm anywhere unless it is in a locked container or fitted with a lock or other safety device that keeps anyone but its owner or another authorized user from firing it; a gun carried by or under the control of its owner does not count as stored. The penalty for most firearms is a fine of $1,000 to $7,500, up to 1 1/2 years of imprisonment, or both, and the law sets a fine of $2,000 to $15,000, 1 1/2 to 12 years, or both for a large capacity or semiautomatic weapon or a machine gun.
About the drug and the jail
Synthetic cannabinoids are lab-made substances chemically similar to chemicals in the cannabis plant, though they often produce very different effects, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Illicitly made versions are usually added to vaping cartridges or to dried plant material that is smoked, and their use is associated with severe health problems and can be life-threatening, the institute says.
People have reported using the products in part because they are mostly undetected by routine urine drug screens, according to the institute.
A year earlier, in November 2025, Heroux announced what he called the largest employee drug bust in the jail's history, after a former librarian at the Dartmouth House of Correction and four other people were indicted in a separate case, accused of sneaking synthetic marijuana into the jail, Ocean State Media reported at the time. The former librarian and the others who had been arraigned pleaded not guilty, the outlet reported. "What people might not realize is how much of a problem drugs are in a jail or prison setting," Heroux said then, adding that inmates sometimes pressure each other for the drugs, which can lead to violence, and that officers and staff can be exposed to them.
The Dartmouth House of Correction held 475 people on Nov. 9, according to the custody totals the sheriff's office posts on its website. Of those, 249 were awaiting trial and 226 were serving sentences.
What happens next
South Coast 360 reached out to the Bristol County Sheriff's Office and will update this story with any response.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every fact about the investigation, the arrests, the arraignments and the charges is the Bristol County Sheriff's Office's account as two newsrooms reported it, NBC 10 News (WJAR) on the afternoon of Nov. 10 and WBSM early Nov. 11, and Dartmouth Week reported the names, the Oct. 7 handoff, the gun, the charges and the arraignments on Nov. 10. We could not read the sheriff's release itself, which is not on the sheriff's website or Facebook page; we asked the sheriff's office for it Tuesday, and we will check every line against the release when it arrives and correct anything that differs. The custody count comes from the sheriff's own website, read Nov. 10. The penalties come from the text of state law on the Legislature's website and the drug description from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, both read Nov. 10. The 2025 case comes from Ocean State Media's report at the time. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (8)
- WBSM, "Bristol County Jail Med Tech Charged in K2 Smuggling Scheme" (Tim Weisberg)Published Nov. 11, 2026, reporting Sheriff Paul Heroux's announcement: Goff's and Andrade's names and ages, the Fall River technician and the New Bedford inmate, the Nov. 3 arraignments in New Bedford District Court, the charges, release on personal recognizance, Andrade still held on unrelated charges, the Internal Affairs Unit and Special Investigations Unit inquiry over several weeks, the reports of K2 and spice brought in by medical staff, that Andrade enlisted Goff, the observed delivery and the loaded, unsecured gun in her car. Read 7:3x a.m. Nov. 11, 2026.
- NBC 10 News (WJAR), "Two charged with smuggling synthetic drugs into Bristol County House of Correction"Published 2:54 p.m. Nov. 10, 2026, citing a release from Sheriff Paul Heroux: the technician's and Andrade's names, ages and hometowns, the Nov. 3 arraignments, release on personal recognizance, Andrade still in custody on unrelated charges, how the investigation began, that Andrade enlisted Goff, the observed delivery, the loaded unsecured gun in her car, and every charge. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- Dartmouth Week, "Jail medical staff charged with bringing drugs into Dartmouth Jail"Published Nov. 10, 2026: Goff's and Andrade's names, ages and hometowns, the Oct. 7 date of the observed handoff, the gun found in her car, the charges, the Nov. 3 arraignments and release on personal recognizance. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- Ocean State Media, "Former employee indicted in scheme to smuggle synthetic marijuana into Bristol County jail"Published November 2025, reporting the sheriff's Monday, Nov. 10, 2025, announcement: the sheriff's description of the earlier case as the largest employee drug bust in the jail's history, the former librarian and four others indicted, the not guilty pleas, and the sheriff's quote on drugs in a jail. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- Bristol County Sheriff's Office, homepage custody totals for Nov. 9, 2026Dartmouth (DHOC) Facility: 249 pretrial, 226 sentenced, 475 total. Read 6:37 p.m. Nov. 10, 2026.
- Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 268, Section 28Delivering drugs or articles to prisoners in correctional institutions or jails, and the penalty. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 140, Section 131LFirearm storage requirements and penalties, subsections (a) and (b). Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, "Synthetic Cannabinoids"What synthetic cannabinoids are, how illicit versions are used, the health risk and the urine screen line. Read Nov. 10, 2026.