POLICE: SOUTH MIAMI GIRL, 11, SOLD HEROIN FOR HER MON

SOUTH MIAMI, Fla. - The girl was known by her neighbors as withdrawn
and sad, but still just an average 11-year-old. But police say she is
anything but - she is suspected of selling heroin on the street for
her mother, sometimes dressed in her school uniform or nightgown.

Investigators and prosecutors were deciding whether to charge the
girl, who was in the custody of the Department of Children & Families
with her 7-year-old sister. But officials hinted that it was unlikely
that she would be prosecuted.

"She was quite obviously doing it to support her mother," said Charles
Blazek, a spokesman for the city of South Miami. Police there arrested
the girl's 36-year-old mother, [NAME DELETED], during a raid
Friday. A 60-year-old man who may be [NAME DELETED]' husband is named as a
codefendant and he remains at large.

Police said they started watching the area near the girl's home in
October after a tip. Officers said they saw the girl regularly selling
$10 and $20 doses of heroin from in front of her home to drivers and
pedestrians, sometimes dressed in her school uniform or pajamas.

Undercover officers said they then made three purchases. During one
buy, police ordered three bags of heroin, but the girl only had two,
police said. She then said that she would have to go into the house to
get another bag from her mother, police said.

Blazek said the girl's neighborhood was not known for drug dealing. On
Tuesday afternoon, it was quiet, with generally well kept houses. But
the girl's house is run down, and neighbors said her family struggled
to get by.

Alda Larios, who lives down the block, said the girl always came over
her house to play with her seven children. Larios said she was shocked
when she heard of the alleged drug dealing.

"It hurt me a lot because we never thought she would do something like
that," Larios said in her yard, which was strewn with toys. "She was
always sad. But she didn't cause problems."

The girl's father, [NAME DELETED], appeared at a juvenile court
hearing Tuesday as a judge tried to decide where the sisters should
live. DCF attorney Lourdes Pons said [NAME DELETED] has asked to take
custody of the two girls. He said he does not live with [NAME DELETED].

A judge ordered the child welfare agency to evaluate whether he was
prepared to care for the children, who were not in court. It was
unclear when a decision would be made, but the judge set a permanent
custody hearing for December.

Pons said [NAME DELETED], 40, had failed to pay child support, but recently
paid $1,850 and agreed to pay $400 a month.

[NAME DELETED] seemed upset in court and the judge only asked him basic
questions. [NAME DELETED] refused to talk to reporters afterward.

[NAME DELETED] is jailed on multiple drug possession and trafficking charges
pending a Jan. 23 arraignment. If convicted, she faces a mandatory
minimum of 15 years' prison and a possible life term.

The Miami-Dade County Public Defender's office will represent her, but
she had not been assigned an attorney as of Tuesday, officials said.

Police said they seized 10 grams of heroin, TW2 grams of crack
cocaine, 10 Xanax pills and 2 grams of marijuana from [NAME DELETED]' home,
along with $1,300 and drug paraphernalia. Police said they will ask
prosecutors to also charge [NAME DELETED] with child exploitation.

"Any claims ([NAME DELETED]) makes saying that she did this to feed her
children goes out the window, because she put her 11-year-old in the
line of fire," South Miami Police Capt. Greg Feldman told The Miami
Herald. He referred calls by The Associated Press Tuesday to Blazek.

Experts said that children are often used to deal and traffic drugs,
usually as a front for adults.

"It happens all the time, unfortunately," said Joe Kilmer, a spokesman
for the Drug Enforcement Administration, which assisted in the raid.