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The Huffington Post | By Kathleen Miles
Posted: 12/13/2013 7:50 pm EST
Serina Ramirez, 18, and Erick De La Cruz, 19, were among nearly two dozen students arrested in high school in drug stings. (Credit: Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept.)
Two dozen Southern California high school students were arrested Thursday for allegedly selling illegal drugs on their school campuses.
The arrests were the result of a semester-long undercover drug sting by a male and female police officer posing as 11th graders, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Trevor Steinrichter, 16, said police showed up in his history class Thursday. “Scary. I saw my friend get arrested,” he said to the Press Enterprise.
Bruce Hollen, 16, said it was disturbing to think that a friend could actually be an officer. “You think you can trust people – you just never know,” he said to the paper.
The sheriff’s department said it identified 23 juvenile students and two adult students between Perris High School in Perris, Calif. and Paloma Valley High School in Meniffee, Calif. who were involved in the drug sales.
Marijuana, cocaine, crack, meth, hashish and various prescription pills were among the drugs recovered by deputies during the course of the investigation.
The underage students were taken to juvenile hall, and the adult students, 18-year-old Serina Ramirez and 19-year-old Erick De La Cruz of Perris High School, were taken to a detention center.
Drug stings have become an annual occurrence in Riverside County. Last December, an undercover drug sting resulted in the arrests of 22 students between Temecula Valley High School, Chaparral High School and Rancho Vista Continuation High School. One boy’s parents are suing their son’s school district, alleging that an uncover officer tricked their son, who has autism, into buying pot for the officer.