HOUSTON (AP) _ Authorities say bananas donated to a Texas prison turned out to have nearly $18 million worth of cocaine hidden inside the boxes. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice says in a Facebook post that the drugs were found in two pallets of bananas that were donated because they were already ripe. The donation arrived Friday. The department says sergeants who picked up the boxes found a bundle of a white powdery substance under the bananas. U.S. customs officials were called to the scene, and authorities say 540 packages of cocaine were found in 45 boxes of
bananas. The department says federal officials and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection are investigating.
HOUSTON (AP) _ Inmates without teeth in Texas are routinely denied dentures because state prison policy says chewing isn’t a medical necessity and that they can eat blended food. The Houston Chronicle reports that medical providers approved 71 dentures to a state prison population of more than 149,000 in 2016. It’s a sharp decline from 15 years ago, when more than 1,000 dental prosthetics were approved. Many inmates are elderly, have a history of drug use or came from impoverished backgrounds with sub-par dental care. State policy says inmates can’t get dentures unless they’re underweight or suffering from other medical complications. Death row inmate Paul Devoe soaks crackers in coffee to eat them with his three remaining teeth. Devoe and other inmates have complained about bleeding gums, sore mouths, choking and being unable to eat.