Albuquerque woman smuggles handgun into New Mexico jail in her privates during arrest

• Josephine McAllister, from Albuquerque, was arrested for possession of stolen credit cards, larceny, receiving stolen property and resisting officer
• Personnel at Bernalillo Country Metropolitan Detention Center say McAllister stashed handgun in her genitals and then ditched it in bathroom
• Inmate was subjected to body scan and pat-down at the jail, but not to a body cavity search
• The 34-year-old told officials she failed to tell them about the gun because she did not want additional charge

By Snejana Farberov for MailOnline

Published: 10:38 EST, 5 January 2015 | Updated: 17:16 EST, 5 January 2015

A New Mexico woman is facing charges after smuggling a handgun into a city jail inside her privates, according to sheriff's officials.

Josephine McAllister, 34, from Albuquerque, was arrested December 16 on a slew of charges, including possession of stolen credit cards, larceny, receiving stolen property and resisting or obstructing an officer.

A short time after Miss McAllister was booked into the Bernalillo Country Metropolitan Detention Center, another inmate found a handgun in the ladies' room while taking out the trash.

Smuggler: Josephine McAllister, 34, from Albuquerque, has been charged with sneaking a handgun into a city jail inside her privates

Contraband: McAllister brought the gun into the Bernalillo Country Metropolitan Detention Center during a recent arrest and then ditched it in the bathroom

When questioned about the firearm by jail officials, McAllister said she did not inform police of the gun in her possession because she did not want additional charges.

The 34-year-old claimed that she had stashed the gun in her waistband, but officers are convinced she was hiding it in her genitals.

Officer Simon Drobik told the station KOAT four police officers searched McAllister as thoroughly as they could at the time of her arrest, but performing a body cavity search was 'out of the question' because departmental rules do not allow it.

McAllister, a mother of four pictured right with her grown daugter, said she did not inform police of the gun in her possession because she did not want additional charges

Suspects who are brought to the city jail are passed through a body scanner and are subjected to a pat-down before entering the facility.

Capt Ray Gonzalez said Miss McAllister likely asked to use the bathroom immediately upon arrival at the detention center, before staff had a chance to search her.

Gonzalez said that since the incident, the jail has put in place additional security measures, including wanding detainees as soon as they arrive, posting staff outside the restrooms and searching the facilities before and after use to make sure no contraband was left behind.

Josephine McAllister is now facing one count of taking contraband into a place of imprisonment.

Checkered past: Online records show that McAllister, pictured above in four different booking photos, she has been arrested more than a dozen times since 2003 on a wide variety of charges

McAllister's grown daughter has shared a link to a news story about her mother's arrest, accompanied by the following comment: 'Yeah right they search good that's why they always have contraband charges. She would never hurt anyone especially a cop. If anything she would of [sic] hurt herself.‘

The Albuquerque resident, who is a mother of four, is no stranger to legal trouble.

Online records show that she has been arrested more than a dozen times since 2003 on charges ranging from shoplifting to possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, burglary and a smattering of probation violations.