Jails throughout the country have always had problems with people trying to smuggle drugs into their facilities but now, California lock ups say that some parolees are getting rearrested in hopes of being able to bring contraband in themselves.

It all started when the prisoner realignment program started, they said, when the state ordered certain low-level offenders serve their sentences at local facilities as opposed to state prisons.

County jails quickly became overcrowded as a result and in some cases, people who are arrested on parole violations are only serving 10 days before being tossed back out on the street.

Criminals, they say, are using this new "flash incarceration" to their advantage, and are using the "slap on the wrist" penalty as a way to bring drugs to other inmates.

Sheriff's departments say the realignment opened a whole new can of worms; prison culture is much different than what they were used to seeing at the local level.  Some have gone so far as to describe the situation as like trying to deal with a fast-moving freight train.

They point out that some recently released inmates are committing strange, minor crimes (like smashing up bottles in a liquor store) to do just enough damage to get them in trouble, but not enough where they could get long-term sentences as a result.

Los Angeles Jails have reported an approximate 10 percent uptick in drug smuggling.

Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Santa Clara county say they've also been trying to find ways to deal with the uptick in jailhouse drug trade. Some have ramped up patrols around their perimeters, some have added drug-sniffing dogs.

Others say the problem may not be as bad as local jails are making it out to be, saying there's no proof that realignment is the sole root of this problem.  They say that these facilities have more skin in the game than they had in the past, and they may be crying wolf in hopes of getting additional state funding.

A spokesperson for the San Diego County Jail, however, is refuting that claim.  They said they've gone so far as to install body scanners to determine whether flash incarcerates have swallowed drug-filled balloons.

Read the full story here:  California jails see surge in drug smuggling