Ala. Woman Charged After 3-Year-Old Found Carrying 2 Kilos of Cocaine in Backpack: Police
Investigators allegedly recovered about $450,000 worth of drugs, according to the Mobile County Sheriff's Office
The 3-year-old was wearing a blue Nike backpack when investigators entered the Mobile, Ala., home searching for drugs.
Unzipping the child’s backpack, law enforcement officers allegedly recovered about two kilograms of cocaine in plastic baggies, according to the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, which provided PEOPLE with crime scene photographs taken on narcotics investigators’ phones.
The 3-year-old was the youngest of four children at the Mobile residence, which had been reported by a “a reliable confidential source” alleging that a woman named Tierra Tocorra Hill “had a large amount of narcotics at a known location,” per a press release from the sheriff’s office.
Surveilling the Harvey Court address, narcotics investigators tracked Hill as she left the home before authorities stopped her car, per the sheriff’s office.
Inside Hill’s vehicle, investigators allegedly recovered about 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, “a small amount of marijuana” and a handgun, per the press release.
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Afterward, investigators executed a search warrant of the home, where they allegedly came upon the 3-year-old with the backpack containing cocaine — as well as another backpack filled with a brick of teal cellophane-wrapped cocaine and several more baggies totaling about a kilogram, as well as two more handguns, the press release claims.
The street value of the drugs allegedly confiscated from Hill totaled about $450,000, per the press release.
“It is absurd how reckless this situation was,” Sheriff Paul Burch alleged in a statement. “There was a total disregard for the law and the children’s well-being.”
The drugs and guns “were accessible” to the children ages 3, 8, 10 and 15, the press release alleges.
Hill is charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of marijuana in the second degree. tampering with physical evidence and four counts of chemical endangerment of a child. It's not immediately clear if she has entered pleas or retained an attorney.
The sheriff’s office says additional charges may be filed.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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