AFTER revealing children as young as seven are being used by drug-dealing parents to peddle ice, Wagga’s police commander says instilling good values into children is their best protection against the drug trade.
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“The best thing we can do as individuals is to raise our kids the way kids should be raised and bring them up with the values that we’d all like them to have,” said Superintendent Bob Noble.
“We have our part to play in this generation – we will do all we can to turn back the tide – but the next generation is going to be more important and we need to raise young kids who are equipped to do that, not kids that grow into adults that want to take drugs.
“It (ice) is a problem that is not going away, and the only way, really, to stop the demand for it is to raise a generation of young people that is well adjusted and they find comfort in things other than such a destructive agent.”
Superintendent Noble on Tuesday expanded on his sensational claim on Monday that children were being used as “concierges” by parents selling drugs.
Police used undercover operatives and surveillance as part of Strike Force Calyx that has led to more than 140 drug supply charges being laid against 46 people in Wagga, a number of whom were parents and allegedly sold drugs from homes while children were there.
“The word concierge is one that was used by one of my investigators,” Superintendent Noble said.
“(He claimed) that a young person was receiving people coming to the house looking to procure drugs, conveying information to a person in another part of the home and then coming back and basically saying ‘take a seat and someone will be with you shortly’.”
As a result of their parents being refused bail after their arrest on drug supply charges last month, more than a dozen children have gone into the care of other family members or the government.
Wagga mayor Rod Kendall backed Superintendent Noble speaking out on the hot topic.
“I congratulate him on his honesty and his upfront attitude in reporting how it is,” Councillor Kendall said. “If that is what he is saying, that is what we need to know. The worst thing you can do is put your head in the sand and not recognise there is a problem.”
Cr Kendall said combating ice and supporting children in drug-affected families was a community responsibility. “We can’t just leave it up to the police,” Cr Kendall said.