FAMILY BUSINESS?

DPS: Drug-Runners Using Children As Shields

DPS troopers are voicing their concerns about the latest trend in
drug-running -- the use of children as a shield against detection. "It's a
sad thing," trooper Lee Coronado said recently at the Ellis County DPS
office, where two boys, ages 11 and 13, awaited the arrival of a relative
after their parents were taken into custody.

"These people are using their kids to facilitate a criminal act. It's
ridiculous and it makes me so mad," said Coronado, who recovered 80 pounds
of marijuana from the parents' vehicle.

This case was one of two publicized last week in Ellis County where
troopers found children in the vehicle. In both cases, the troopers filed
child endangerment charges in addition to the drug charges.

Trooper Jason Meeks had found two children, ages 10 and 7, in a vehicle
containing $1.6 million worth of cocaine the day before. "Anytime you place
a child in physical or mental harm's way, that's child endangerment," Meeks
said, as the two children played quietly in a nearby office, holding Teddy
bears given to them by the troopers. "I would definitely say this is
something mentally harmful to the children."

"In these cases, parents have the desire to sell drugs for money or to
supply their own habit, and the kids end up being the true victims," said
Stacy Ladd, a spokesman for CPS, which will add these cases to a
ever-growing list of drug-related investigations in child abuse and neglect.

"We know, as an agency, that anytime you have a parent involved in alcohol
or drugs, that it puts the child at risk of neglect," Ladd said. "If the
parent is involved in sales or trafficking of drugs, it leads to a
lifestyle that's not safe for children. And children shouldn't have to sit
in a police station because their parents make bad decisions."

CPS will approach its investigation through civil proceedings; law
enforcement officials will handle theirs through criminal proceedings.
"(Drugs are) a known risk factor for children," said Ladd. "We get a lot of
calls from law enforcement; a lot of families are involved and their
children are caught in the middle. Many times, parents are arrested and
their children have to be placed. If there is no one to take them, we have
to find a relative or put them in foster care."

Trends come and go in drug-running, DPS Sgt. Larry Adams said. Trends have
included the types of cars used -- large, four-door passenger vehicles were
once popular, then smaller compacts came into use. Trends also vary as to
where the drugs are hidden. Troopers have found drugs inside of tires, gas
tanks and door panels.

Last week, the cocaine was found in the quarter panel in front of a Tahoe's
rear tail light assembly; the marijuana was found under the headliner of a
Ford pickup.

As law enforcement adapts to the strategies, so those involved with drugs
adjust their patterns.

"They have as much intelligence on us as we do on them," Adams said. "It's
a game that never ends."

This latest trend of using children, however, is one the troopers hope ends
soon because they see many dangers involved.

The odor of marijuana inside of one vehicle pulled over in a non-related
case was so intense that the driver -- the sole occupant -- had to have
been impaired, Coronado recalls, raising the question of what if a child
had been in that vehicle?

Even more serious to the troopers is the fact that drugs and guns can
easily become entwined, with tragic results.

What if other drug traffickers find out about a vehicle's cache of drugs
and attack it en route? They worry, hoping that the filing of child
endangerment charges will sway parents from using their children in the future.

"There is no telling the stories these kids can tell because they are put
in positions they shouldn't have to be," Ladd said. "Kids have the right to
be safe and to be in an environment that's not chaotic."

"Certainly, if it meets the elements of the statute, we will prosecute,"
said Don Maxfield, chief felony prosecutor for Ellis County, noting this is
a newer issue that is arising.

The county already prosecutes people for child endangerment if they are
intoxicated and have children in the vehicle with them, he said, adding
that the filing of multiple charges in a case provides a number of options.

"The charges will be resolved in some manner," said Maxfield, who believes
these cases will be the first the county prosecutes against "mules" (drug
carriers) for having children in the vehicle.

"Every case is based on the facts and the law that applies to it," he said.
"If the elements are there, we will prosecute."

"We see a lot of parents who make bad decisions for themselves, and it
impacts their children," Ladd said. "Parents who have their children around
drugs are putting their own needs first. And when that happens, there are
tragic outcomes."