US POLICE HAVE arrested a woman after her four-year-old daughter passed out packets of heroin to children at her play school, thinking they contained sweets.
Delaware State Police said in a news release that the girl found the bags on Monday in a backpack her mother gave her to use after hers was ruined by a family pet.
The backpack contained 249 bags of heroin, weighing 3.7 grams – each packet was labelled ‘Slam’.
Thinking the packets were sweets, the girl began passing them out to her classmates.
Staff at the Hickory Tree Child Care Centre in Selbyville called police when they noticed some children with the bags.
Police say that several children who received the packets were sent to hospital as a precaution, but were released after examination. None of the packets were actually opened.
The girl’s mother, 30-year-old Ashley Tull, now faces charges of maintaining a drug property as well as endangering the welfare of a child. She has been ordered not to contact her children, who have been placed in the care of a relative.
Detectives are continuing to investigate the case, and say more charges may be forthcoming.
Additional reporting by Valerie Loftus
