Pubdate: Tue, 13 Dec 2005
Source: Press-Enterprise (CA)
Copyright: 2005 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact:  http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Sarah Burge, staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

UNDERCOVER EFFORT NETS 17 ARRESTS

Romona High School: Police Say 13 Students Were  Targeted, Mostly For
Pot-Related Drug Offenses.

RIVERSIDE - Thirteen Ramona High School students and  four adults have
been arrested in a three-month  undercover investigation into drug
activity at the  school that ended Dec. 6.

Riverside police spokesman Steven Frasher declined to  discuss details
of the arrests, including what prompted  police to focus on Ramona
High. Frasher said most of  the arrests involved marijuana.

Frasher said the adults arrested were not connected  with the
school.

Dianne Pavia, spokeswoman for the Riverside Unified  School District,
said police approached the district  about doing an undercover drug
operation at one of the  high schools. Pavia said she did not know why
Ramona  was picked.

Ramona Principal Mike Neece said he didn't know there  was an
undercover officer in his school until October,  when he became
suspicious. He said the officer was  hanging out with a lot of
different groups of students,  which is unusual. Then, Neece said,
police called to  tell him what was happening.

Neece said police didn't find the volume of drug sales  they expected.
But he said he wouldn't have been  surprised if there had been more.

"At any public high school in America, if you think  there's no drug
activity at all going on on campus,  you're foolish," Neece said.
"Everything that exists in  society comes to school every day."

Neece said he worries that the targeting of Ramona High  will further
stigmatize the school.

"We've worked so hard in the last three years to make  Ramona not seem
like a second-class place," Neece said.

Neece said students caught in drug activity on campus  will receive a
five-day suspension, followed by an  expulsion hearing.

Outside of Ramona High Monday, students said all of the  arrests
happened the day the investigation ended, and  word spread fast.

"Everybody knew," said George Mawad, 17, with a laugh.

The students said the undercover officer just showed up  in class one
day.

"They said he was, like, 23, 24," Mawad said.

"But he looked like 15," said Anna Olan, 16, finishing  his
sentence.

Mawad said one of the students arrested was a good  friend of his --
and a 4.0 student.

Mawad, Olan and Albert Vieira, 15, all said it was easy  to buy
marijuana, or any other drug, in or around the  school. The students
said they're regularly approached  by people wanting to sell them
drugs or asking where  they can buy drugs.

"They just assume you smoke pot," Vieira said. "I've  been asked to
buy pills, crack."

Mawad said, "Don't get me wrong, it is a really good  school. But the
whole thing about drugs, that's going  to be everywhere."

For the time being, they said, most students have taken  their drug
dealing elsewhere.

"Everybody is so paranoid now, I swear," Mawad said.  "Everybody is
looking out for a narc."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin