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Debbie Dujanovic ReportingIt's the tragic toll of epidemic of drug use among Utah teenagers. Parents speak about losing their children and what we uncovered through a network of dealers. Who's in charge and where do they come from?
The juvenile court heard 2,200 drug cases last year. This day, 21-kids shuffle in, but many never make it here.
Kiele Nelson: "We've got to stop saying this isn't going to happen to me, it's not going to happen to my child."
They were teenagers found in fields, at parties, at home.
Gary Ballingham, Blake's Father: "There was blood and foam coming out of his mouth; his face was blue, he was puffy."
Blake Ballingham: "This is where my dad found me. I was right here in my bed."
Blake Ballingham survived an overdose.
Blake Ballingham: "It takes over your life. It's all you think about every day."
Oxycontin killed his friend Mitch Nelson.
Kiele Nelson, Mitch's Mother: "I just remember walking through this house saying this is not happening to me, this is not happening to me, not my family."
For high school student Colton Berger it was cocaine.
David Berger, Colton's Father: "We talked about changing schools with Colton, we talked openly with him about that. He said, 'Dad anyone who wants the stuff can get it, it is so available.'"
Det. Kris Hendricksen, Wasatch Back Narcotics Enforcement Team: "It's everywhere; it's in every school in every high school. Doesn't matter if it's a little high school like South Summit High School, or East High in Salt Lake."
Think of it as a business that targets a specific customer -- your child, using a middle man, an organized network of hundreds dealers to get to them. And the suppliers are drug rings out of Mexico.
We watched police in several jurisdictions try to tackle the problem. Dealers are offered incentives: an apartment, a car, drugs to sell. Some will even offer kids free drugs if they spread their phone number at school.
Detective: "We know this is tied into cases, they're definitely selling to high school kids."
During a five-month investigation, Salt Lake County sheriff's detectives uncovered quite a bit.
Detective: "What we've done is ordered cocaine we're going to buy from a suspected dealer."
"Eh, amigo what's up? How much - $180?"
Detective: "This is the cocaine our undercovers were able to purchase."
They buy and buy.
Detective: "It's powder cocaine. 1350, 1353, not bad for a couple hours work."
A single dealer can bring in 200-thousand a month. We watched detectives take down 14 in five days.
Sgt. Kevin Matthews, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office: "They are preying on our kids; they are seeking out our kids, to make a profit. They don't care if they die."
This battle reaches beyond the Wasatch Front. Detectives working high school drug cases in the Summit County area say one dealer operates on his own; they stop him on his way to Park City.
Det. Kris Hendricksen, Wasatch Back Narcotics Enforcement Team: "He has his own children in the car. Yet he's dealing to other people's children. It's sad."
Here's advice from police and parents who know firsthand. Kids are clever; be direct, look through their stuff. Officers find drugs in decorative tins, shoes, kids use tire gauges, cans to smoke drugs.
Experts say it's part of a parent's job to be suspicious -- if you have any hint your child is in trouble, confront them. And take nothing for granted.
One father had his child take a urine test, which came back clean.
Parent: "He was using someone else's urine, which is a common thing."
Kiele Nelson, Mitch's mother: "Parents are caught up in living life, thinking, you know, 'Our kids won't do that.' You know what? They are."
