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Drug dealing parents are using their underage children in the trade, the head of Diamonds and Narcotics squad has said. Superintendent Miriam Kilano told Mmegi that peddlers use their children, some of them as young as 12 to sell drugs to their schoolmates. She said some of the young children usually end up using the drugs that they are selling. "That is the reason why the students will say that they have been addicted to these drugs since their primary school days. They start by sniffing glue and gradually graduate into other drugs," Kilano said. She revealed that many people selling drugs in the country are buying them from South Africa. The brands range from compressed dagga also known as 'block', cocaine, mandrax and ecstasy. "These hard drugs are sold mostly in the local clubs and they are very expensive as one gram of cocaine goes for P350," she said. She explained that the transaction between the sellers of hard drugs and the customers does not even take a minute. "They appoint to meet at a certain place and when the customer's car stops, the dealer will just throw the package at him and the customer throws him the money and drives away. It does not take even a minute for the deal to be completed," she asserted. Kilano said that from the intelligence they have gathered, it shows that the use of hard drugs is very rampant in Gaborone. She revealed that mandrax pills are being sold at P80 while ecstasy ranges from P80 to P120. She explained that the dealers smuggle the amount of drugs depending on the customers that they have and those who have placed orders. "We have in the past seized about 500 grams in different cases from them. They make a lot of money from these small amounts," Kilano said. She added that most of dagga is sold at or around tuck shops by young men. "They just hang there for their potential customers and they have their own language that they use if they want these drugs. You will never know if you are not into them," she said. She revealed that they have had 88 cases of drugs involving 300 men and 68 were females. She indicated that most of the people dealing in drugs are tried in the Customary Courts where they normally get away with fines and a few strokes or even a lesser prison term. "The sentence from the Customary Courts are confirmed by the District Commissioner who will either endorse the sentence or reduce it as he sees fit," Kilano said. She revealed that they have had 24 cases of primary, secondary and college students engaged in drugs. She appealed to parents to involve teachers and the police if they suspect that a student has been using drugs so that they can get back to the suppliers where the problem comes from. "We have been going to the schools trying to sensitise students on the dangers of drug abuse but it is like we are encouraging them as more of them are experimenting. It is a problem in all the schools be it a public school or a private school and parents must work with us to alleviate the problem," Kilano said.