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Debbie Dujanovic ReportingAn organized network of hundreds of high school students; they're running drugs, selling to friends, making thousands of dollars. We caught them on tape, dealing near high schools. We even obtained police surveillance video of it happening in class. Now, see for yourself how teenagers are a growing force in Utah's drug trade.
Sgt. Kevin Matthews, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office: "Parents need not be living under the 'ostrich' effect, with their heads in the sand. They need to realize this is real."
Narcotics officers with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's office say hundreds of high school kids are involved in a growing, organized network where teens buy then sell drugs to classmates.
Sgt. Kevin Matthews, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office: "You asked the question, 'Where are they getting the money to do this?' Well, they save their lunch money at first. But then they find they can also start a business. Now you have a drug runner who's a high school student. He's taking orders at school."
Sgt. Shane Hudson, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office: "They're leaving campus during lunch. They'll sluff a class. They'll go wherever they go to get it, bring it back, distribute it and get rid of it quick."
See for yourself how it happens. Inside an SUV is a 19-year old. He's working with a detective, calls a number he got from friends. A driver shows and they slip into a neighborhood. Detectives take the suspect down before the next sale. Inside the car are small balloons.
We found the deals happen all the time. It takes seconds. The supply is endless. Kids spend thousands on drugs.
Detectives intercept hundreds of pounds before they're sold to more students, but not always.
Detective: "It's in every high school, even in the private schools. If they don't think it is, their eyes are closed."
Prescription drugs were in every hallway at one northern Utah high school. We obtained surveillance video. An undercover officer puts a camera in a backpack, enrolls in school, and this is what he hears:
"We break into pharmacies."
"Break into pharmacies?
"Put on our masks, put gum over the camera, grab 20 bottles and leave."
Kids were cutting deals. Eleven students were arrested.
"There were kids who were so desperate they'd literally pay 25 to 30 bucks for one ballon, and one balloon barely lasts for a day."
He's a junior. His classmates were his customers. He sold cocaine and heroin to support his habit. Detectives say some teens were taking in up to $4,000 a week.
"I'm trying to get into college. I'm doing good in school, finally."
She got busted for selling heroin. She's 17. This is her second arrest.
Detectives estimate for every teenager who gets caught, 10 others get away with it.
Tomorrow night at 10:00, the teens who didn't survive, the connection to organized crime, plus, clues some parents overlooked. They think YOU should learn from their mistakes.
