Kids as young as 10 used as drug couriers in crime ring

(ANSA) – Foggia, December 2 – Children as young as 10 were forced by their parents to act as drug couriers, making deliveries to clients and returning home with the cash payments, police said Monday.

Arrest warrants against 41 people on charges ranging from drug dealing to robbery, possession of weapons, forgery, and aiding and abetting illegal immigration were issued as part of the investigation around Foggia, in the south-eastern region of Puglia, police said.

So far, 18 people are in jail and another 16 are under house arrest as part of an alleged ring that turned about 150,000 thousand euros in profits, police said.

Besides using the juvenile couriers, who were 10 and 11, the drug dealers used such code words as scooter, coffee, big engine and onions to describe various elements of a cocaine deal.