Parents: “Love should rule the day, not anger.”
Death leads to two heroin arrests
Feds to visit parents of drug-abusing teens
The Times-Picayune
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
By Brendan McCarthy
Two young men have been arrested and charged in a drug distribution ring that put heroin, cocaine and other drugs into the hands of local teenagers, including a 16-year-old Lusher High School student who died from an overdose last month, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten announced Tuesday.
The arrests and subsequent court filings lay bare a local network of buyers and sellers dealing with some of the most potent narcotics officials said they’ve seen in the area in decades. And the ongoing investigation also prompted federal officials to take an unusual step: Agents will visit the parents of children identified as drug buyers, letting them know their children use drugs.
The men allegedly responsible for dealing the drugs, David C. Battenberg, 27, of Metairie, and Diego A. Perez, of New Orleans, are charged in a federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute and possess heroin, cocaine and other controlled substances.
The charges stem from a fast-tracked federal investigation initiated by the overdose death of 16-year-old Madeleine Prevost, a junior at Lusher High School who died in January from a toxic mixture of heroin and cocaine.
“The arrest of these two individuals on heroin distribution charges, which we announce today, signals something more important than the apprehension of drug dealers,” Letten said at a Tuesday morning news conference. “It signals the end of a drug distribution business which caused the loss of a child.” …
James Bernazzani, special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans office, departed momentarily from his typical tough-on-crime rhetoric and called for loving intervention by parents of drug-abusing children. “This is not a time for punishment, this is a time for hugs. . . . Get them the treatment they need,” he said. “Love should rule the day, not anger.”
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Related:
Cyndi Nguyen, A New Orleans Mother’s Message To Teens About Drug Overdose: “I don’t think any parent could ever imagine burying a child”, WGSO.