PORTLAND — A Brownfield woman and a Casco woman are accused of mailing drugs to inmates at the Cumberland County jail, and two inmates there are charged with distributing them in the jail.

Police say Stephanie Bokuniewicz, 27, of Brownfield, and Morgan Miller, 20, of Casco, hid thin, dissolving strips of Suboxone in the packaging of letters they mailed to inmates Michael Harmon, 27, of Naples, and Daniel Bokuniewicz, 24, of Casco, who is Miller’s boyfriend and Stephanie Bokuniewicz’s brother.

The two men were charged with criminal conspiracy to distribute Suboxone. The two women were summonsed on charges of furnishing Suboxone and trafficking in prison contraband.

According to Maine Drug Enforcement Agency supervisor Kevin Cashman, jail investigators began looking into the case and brought in the MDEA, who assisted in the investigation. The charges come after a four-month investigation.

Cashman said it’s not known whether the Suboxone strips were sold or traded, but he said they were being distributed to other inmates.

Suboxone is used to treat opiate addiction. The strips, similar to breath mint strips, are a new means to administer Suboxone created by Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals Inc., which rolled out the strips last fall. The strips are advertised as better tasting, faster dissolving and easier to carry than pills.

Cashman said investigators don’t know whether either of the women is receiving the Suboxone strips for treatment or whether they were acquired from a third party.

He said the shape of the strips pose a challenge for investigators. They aren’t easily found in a pat-down and are easy to hide. “It gives us a little bit of difficulty in trying to figure out who’s diverting it and who’s using it illegally when it’s in a much more concealed form,” Cashman said.

“It was a great job by the jail personnel that located it,” Cashman said. “It’s not like somebody’s sending in a pill or even a crushed-up pill. These are paper thin.”

According to a release, further charges and arrests are expected as the investigation continues.

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