COPS CRACK DOWN ON BOY, 8, IN 'SHOCKING' DRUG BUST

CALGARY -- Street-hardened Calgary cops are shocked and disturbed after
nabbing an eight-year-old crack dealer during a downtown drug bust, the Sun
has learned.

"I just about fell off my chair when I learned about it -- how someone got
an eight-year-old (into drugs) is shocking," said Staff Sgt. Roger Chaffin
of the Calgary Police Service vice unit.

"I can't recall a younger child involved with such a significant possession
amount in an area known for high-density (drug) trafficking."

Members of the CPS bike unit were on patrol near the Bow River walk area on
the north side of Calgary's Riverfront Ave. Friday afternoon when they
allegedly saw a drug deal going down.

"They could see (the adult suspect) was dealing with a child," Chaffin
said. "The boy was 'muling' (holding) the drugs."

It's a common trick for drug sellers to make the cash deal, then point the
buyer in the direction of a second person, the one holding the dope,
Chaffin said. "The dealers see it as a way of severing themselves from the
product, to sell it without getting arrested."

The boy was nabbed with an "eight-ball," or about three grams, of rock
cocaine worth about $300 when police made the bust.

Police arrested a male adult suspect and the province's Child Welfare
department nabbed the boy -- who is not related to the man and is too young
to face charges -- in a downtown apartment where both were living.