An autopsy following his jailhouse suicide revealed that former NFL star Aaron Hernandez reportedly tested positive for synthetic marijuana.
Traces of K2 were found in Hernandez’s kidney stream after he hung himself in his cell on Wednesday at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts.
Hernandez’s alleged drug use prompted a raid at the facility, with dozens of state police officers searching inmates for contraband.
Via Newsweek:
A kidney fluid screen conducted during an autopsy showed traces of the drug, the sources said.
That news prompted a State Police raid at the Souza Baronwski Correctional Center (SBCC) in Lancaster, Massachusetts on Monday, multiple sources say. (Like others who spoke to Newsweek for this story, they asked for anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the press.) Dozens of Massachusetts State Police troopers assigned to the State Police Emergency Response Team and Tactical Operations Team searched the SBCC—the jail where Hernandez died last week—looking for contraband, including paper soaked with the synthetic marijuana known as K2.
Officers were looking for liquefied drugs such as K2, which can be smuggled into prison by dipping corners of paper into the drug and mailing that piece of paper as a letter.
According to reports, inmates told investigators that they believed Hernandez was high on K2 when he died.
An investigation at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center has led to the paid suspension of at least one prison official, who reportedly missed his 2:00 A.M. rounds roughly an hour before the former Patriots player’s body was discovered.