Around 8:40 a.m. on Friday two students at Carl F. Smith Middle School in Terra Bella found two balloons on the playground of the school grounds. The deflated balloons, similar to drug bindle packaging, had a white powdery substance inside and outside the packaging.
The students notified school staff, who called the Tulare County Sheriff's Office. The Department responded immediately.
#BREAKING: These are the balloons found on a playground @ Carl F. Middle School in #TerraBella. @TulareSheriff says cocaine was found inside of them. 13 students were exposed, 2 were taken to the hospital. Officials say 1 student has been linked to the incident. More at 6 @ABC30 pic.twitter.com/XZOdjUeQSX
— Cory James (@CoryABC30) September 14, 2018
When deputies arrived, they did a "presumptive test" on the white substance, and it tested positive for cocaine. An ambulance crew was called to the school and conducted field evaluations on 13 children who were potentially exposed and all of those results came back negative.
Two of those children were taken to the hospital as a precaution only. The parents of those students have been notified.
#New: Statement from Terra Bella Union Elementary School District on today’s incident involving balloons filled with cocaine pic.twitter.com/WK3Grv61JW
— Cory James (@CoryABC30) September 14, 2018
A 13-year-old male student the suspect and is being detained as the individual who brought the balloons to the school.
A K9 also alerted deputies to that boy's shorts, which ended up testing positive for drugs. The point of origin for the drugs at his home.
Students at Carl F. Smith Middle School are in grades 6-8. Almost 300 children attend the school.
