Accused drug dealers brought children to undercover drug deal
Cocaine sales continue to climb in Warren County
A Bowling Green couple was arrested on crack cocaine-related charges Thursday after an undercover drug purchase to which they brought the man’s 4-year-old son and the woman’s 18-month-old daughter, police said.
Deandre Maskin, 28, 1441 Kenton St., is charged with two counts of first-degree trafficking a controlled substance (crack cocaine), possession of marijuana and two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. Christina Caffee, 22, 1441 Kenton St., is charged with one count of first-degree trafficking a controlled substance (crack cocaine), possession of marijuana and two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.
The arrests are the result of a two-month investigation into Maskin, Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force Director Tommy Loving said.
Caffee happened to be present Thursday during the latest undercover drug purchase and is accused of having crack cocaine on her person at the time of the arrests, police said.
“We determined that Maskin was approaching becoming a mid-level drug trafficker,” Loving said.
Police turned over the children to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
“Some politicians would say drugs are a victimless crime, but when you take children to a drug trafficking event, which can easily turn violent, then we clearly had two victims today who were just lucky enough to be taken care of by the police and social services,” Loving said. “Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when we were routinely dealing with crack cocaine, there was a lot of violence associated with crack cocaine.
“Any time you put a child in the environment of a drug purchase, the danger level goes up because the drug dealer never really knows if it’s going to be a robbery or the dealer may owe an individual and they’re out to collect their money or send a message to the other drug dealers by possibly shooting this one. Dealing with people like that, if a child gets in the way, they really don’t care. I can’t understand and probably never will why an individual would take the risk of putting their child in a potentially violent circumstance even for a large profit of cash.”
This drug incident is one of many in Warren County involving cocaine, a drug that is seeing a resurgence locally following a trend of increased coca production in Colombia. Last year, coca growth rose to 188,000 hectares. One hectare is equivalent to more than 2.7 acres.
The amount of finished cocaine trafficked out of Colombia stands at record levels. Colombia is the United States’ largest cocaine supplier.
Original Article: http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/accused-drug-dealers-brought-children-to...
