LOS LUNAS, N.M. (KRQE) – The state corrections department is praising inmates on a work detail after they found two loaded guns along I-25. The inmates from the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas were working near the Santo Domingo exit Monday.
When the department says they spotted the guns hidden under some tumbleweeds. The inmates alerted the supervising officer, who took swift action.
The corrections department says discoveries like this are rare and the inmates did the right thing. “We could be having a whole different discussion but for the actions, the conduct, and the behavior of those inmates. We’re talking about two loaded handguns being introduced to a place where you have custody and control of folks who are serving out periods of incarceration for convictions and other crimes. It could have been a completely different story,” says Public Safety POlicy Advisor for the governor Benjamin Baker.
The department says all nine inmates were searched and interviewed once they returned to the prison. The guns were turned over to state police for further investigation.