Philadelphia

Boy, 5, Brings 22 Packs of Crack Cocaine to Philadelphia Day Care Center, Police Say

The 5-year-old boy was discovered around 9:20 a.m. with 22 packs of crack cocaine inside the St. Cyprian Children’s Center on the 6200 block of Cedar Avenue

What to Know

  • A 5-year-old boy brought 22 packs of crack cocaine to the St. Cyprian Children’s Center on the 6200 block of Cedar Avenue, police said.
  • The boy said his father told him to leave the bag in his pocket and not take it out, according to investigators.
  • The boy did not pass the drugs to other children, police said.

An investigation is underway after a young boy brought nearly two dozen packets of crack cocaine to a Philadelphia day care Tuesday morning, police said.

The 5-year-old was discovered around 9:20 a.m. with 22 packs of crack cocaine inside the St. Cyprian Children’s Center on the 6200 block of Cedar Avenue.

A teacher’s aide noticed a bulge in the boy's pocket and found a plastic baggie containing individual baggies of the drug, police and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said. The aide confiscated the bag and gave it to the director of the center, who called police.

The boy said his father, who resides in neighboring Upper Darby, told him to leave the bag in his pocket and not take it out, investigators said. The drugs were not passed out to any children.

“I feel like it’s just the parents’ fault,” the father of one of the children at the day care center told NBC10. “We’ve got to do better with raising our kids. We have to be more responsible about what we’re doing in our own homes instead of worrying about what’s going on outside of them.”

No arrests have been made. Police continue to investigate. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services told NBC10 the day care is in compliance with the latest inspections and reports and they’ve found nothing out of the ordinary at the location over the past few years.

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