A five year old boy was found sitting next to a half-pound bag of cocaine when authorities arrested his parents, who are believed to be on their way to make a drug deal. Authorities decided to test the child and later found out that he has significant level of cocaine in his system.
The child's parents, Marco and Sandy Cuevas was caught in a drug bust following investigations by the Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit (PCU) that traced the cocaine proliferating among young people in the eastern part of the county to 31-year old Marco, a Slymar resident. The investigations also revealed that Marco is also into selling guns.
"Detectives conducted an investigation into Cuevas where they witnessed him selling cocaine to a Ventura County resident. The investigation also revealed that Cuevas was involved in the sale of guns," the Ventura County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Cuevas was arrested by members of the PCU and other specialized units from the Sheriff's office in Moorpark on Thursday while en route for a cocaine deal. Authorities found him with several ounces of cocaine in his possession while his wife Sandy, who was with him in the car and is seven months pregnant, was found carrying more than $10,000 in cash suspected to be proceeds from drug dealings.
The authorities also found that the couple had their five year old son along with them at the backseat of the car and he was sitting beside a half-pound bag of cocaine prompting the authorities to have the child tested. Ventura County Sheriff's Capt. Don Aguilar said that it was out of safety concern that they had the child tested since they found him very close to the bag of cocaine.
"We just happened to test him because he was found so close to the drugs in the car," Aguilar said.
The child was released from the hospital after he was found positive for cocaine. Police said that other children lived in the couple's home but they were all taken into custody after the arrest.
Marco faces several charges including child endangerment, possession for sale of cocaine and weapons violation. 29-year old Sandy, on the other hand, is charged with conspiracy to sell cocaine, possession for sale of cocaine, and child endangerment. Her sister said she does not believe that her five-year old nephew is high and said that Sandy is a good mother.
