May 17, 2008 8:04 pm US/Eastern
Drug Dealers Hide Stash Near Virgin Mary Statue
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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Drug dealers are hiding their stash near the statue of the Virgin Mary.
A quiet garden for prayer and contemplation outside an East Baltimore Catholic School is being used for a very different purpose that's upsetting parents and the schools.
Suzanne Collins reports drug dealers are using the park to hide their stash near the statue of the Virgin Mary.
At St. Frances Academy, they are honoring seniors. As they look toward successful futures, another type of life is going on outside the school windows.
"Teachers whose classrooms face out on the street look out, just happen to look out the window and see drug deals or somebody stashing the drugs," said principal Marcia Hall.
The school says what used to be a buffer zone around the school that the drug dealers honored, has vanished. Drugs are even being hidden in a sacred grotto within the front gate and walls of the school beneath a statue of the Virgin Mary.
"People would come here and just sit and talk, think and pray and meditate. There did used to be a couple of benches out here," said Ralph Moore with St. Frances Academy.
One bench was broken from abuse. Another was removed after it was shoved to the wall so drugs could be passed over the wall. The school calls it sacrilege.
"In the last few months especially, we've witnessed a great increase in the drug trafficking. The drug trafficking has taken place not only in front of the school to a great extent but has also been brought on to the school campus," said Moore.
The eastern district commander has assigned a narcotics detective to the area around the school. A patrolman comes every day after school to protect students from harm.
The school has asked the mayor to raze long abandoned houses nearby and clean trash and weeds from a park. Rowhomes that make up the convent adjacent to the school have had problems with an open drug market on a lot next door.
"I'd like to see more attention to the neighborhood so that it doesn't look as abandoned and neglected as it does. I think that's an invitation to set up shop," said Hall.
A rally for a school peace zone was held Thursday. The school also held a "311 blitz" where people called in dozens of complaints to the city's non-emergency line about health and housing issued near the school.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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