EVANS CONDEMNS FATHER'S ATTITUDE IN SON'S CONNECTION WITH CRACK COCAINE
BUST SUSPECT

CALGARY (CP) - The father of an eight-year-old boy involved in a crack
cocaine deal doesn't want the child back, Children's Services Minister Iris
Evans said Wednesday.

The boy and his three siblings were taken into emergency care Tuesday after
Calgary police nabbed him holding crack cocaine for a drug dealer during a
downtown bust.

Police arrested a male suspect. The boy is not related to the man arrested,
a boarder at the boy's downtown apartment home.

Evans said the parent seems to have chosen the boarder over his three
children - the eight-year-old, a six-year-old boy and a girl, four. They
were taken by Children's Services following the arrest.

"What we're being told (by the father) is that the boarder has to stay
there because of the rent (money)," Evans said.

"Obviously a choice is being made that supports the boarder in the home.
The parent knows that with the boarder in the home, the children cannot
come back."

Evans said the apartment was outrageously inappropriate for children.

"From all reports, people in the building are nervous about drugs, the
finding of bullets within the home itself. Neighbours (are) unwilling to
talk about it because they're so fearful of retribution.

"In this kind of environment there's no place for a child."

It's common for drug sellers to make a cash deal, then point the buyer in
the direction of a second person, the one holding the dope, said Staff Sgt.
Roger Chaffin.

Evans said the boy was evasive with police, which may suggest he's already
being groomed for crime.

"He appeared to be giving responses that were more street-wise than he
should be at eight," she said. "I think the concern is that boy and his
siblings could well have been receiving a very early indoctrination into crime.

"This is a propagation of a child to enter a life of crime, no different
that child prostitution."

Kieng Nhuan Tran, 26, has been charged with two counts of possession of
drugs for the purpose of trafficking and one count of breach of
recognizance. He had been freed from jail on bail Monday.

He will be back in court Sept. 16.