Youth forced into drug dealing to survive

Yomna Kamel Middle East Times staff

An eight-year old girl was arrested by narcotics police and put into a rehabilitation center away from her family and friends, totally unaware she had made a mistake. As far as she was concerned, she was dutifully obeying her father who asked her to deliver some packages.

The girl, arrested a few years ago, was the youngest person to be caught in the drug trade at the time. According to a social researcher at a center for juvenile delinquents, the girl was nabbed by police in Boulaq Al Daqrour, a low income area of the Giza governorate, while delivering drugs to an addict.

"She had no concept of what she was doing, she felt she might be doing something wrong but had to obey her father," said the social researcher who wished to remain anonymous.

This girl is one of the hundreds of young people arrested each year in and around Cairo for distributing drugs often at the prompting of parents, or peers and are considered by experts victims of social and economic circumstances.

Samah, on her way to serving a three-year jail sentence, is another example of children pushed by adults to distribute drugs. Police caught her delivering heroin to a coffee shop owner in Boulaq Abou Al Ela, a poor district in Cairo.

"My step father was a bad man. He used to beat me and my mother, forcing us to work with him in drug dealing. My mother is now in jail for drug dealing," said Samah.

The social researcher said that adults exploit minors in order to escape the harsh sentences they could get if caught doing the same activity.

"Adults involved in drug dealing want to escape sentences that might reach 25 years of hard labor by using minors. Egyptian law does not penalize minors under 15 years-of-age, and does not expose minors above this age to such heavy sentences," said the social researcher.

In addition to parents who exploit their children, economic circumstances also drive youth to enter the drug business.

MONEY THE MOTIVE
"Minors involved in drug dealing usually belong to poor and illiterate families, which makes money a motive to work in drug distributing. Drug dealers use those poor kids in their business to escape punishment," said Aziza Kamel, director of the Egyptian Society For the Protection of Women and Children.

According to Kamel, the majority of drug busts occur in areas like Boulaq Al Daqrour, Al Sayida Aisha, Bab Al Shaariya and Al Batniya all low income areas.

The case of Rehab, a 16-year-old girl sentenced to two years, is a perfect example of a victim of economic and social circumstances. Police seized six kilograms of hashish and a small amount of heroin that Rehab was carrying on her person when she was delivering them to a Sayida Zeinab drug dealer.

Rehab is from a poor family in Fayoum governorate. Her father, a part-time laborer, divorced her mother and married another woman who mistreated her.

NICE OLD LADY
"I ran away from home in Fayoum after I knew my stepmother wanted me to marry one of her relatives. I came to Cairo where I met an a nice old woman who agreed to let me live in her house," said Rehab.

"After a few months she asked that I work for her in return. I used to deliver drugs to other drug dealers in Cairo," said Rehab.

Young distributors can also help expand a drug dealer's customer base says Kamel.

"Using young drug distributors enables drug dealers to reach other young people who are more susceptible to becoming addicted due to their youth," said Kamel. "In many cases they are caught dealing near schools and universities."

In some cases, the minor distributor himself becomes addicted and begins to do business himself in order to pay for his habit, said a criminologist with a police department who wished to remain anonymous.

This is exactly what happened with Tareq, a 17 year old student from Port Said. Tareq said his parents were pinning their hopes on him to become a doctor or an engineer, but he disappointed them.

"I dropped out of school and joined a gang and tried many kinds of drugs. After a while I became addicted and one of my friends convinced me to work with his father, a local drug dealer," he said. "In return for working for him, I would get all drugs I needed," he said.

Tareq, slated to spend the next three years in juvenile detention, was caught injecting a university student with drugs. Medical tests showed that Tareq himself was under the influence of drugs when arrested by police.