Fifteen high school students in Palm Beach County, Florida, were arrested in January 2005 for selling drugs on school property. Some of the teens had sold as little as $10 worth of marijuana to undercover police officers who had befriended them. Other students had sold MDMA (Ecstasy) and cocaine.
In a drug investigation called "Operation Old Schoolhouse," which took place at five area high schools, five county police officers posed as high school students in order to make the arrests.
Local prosecutors intend to charge the teens as adults, calling the students' actions "a crime that doesn't deserve juvenile prosecution." The county's school police chief and superintendent indicated that several other schools were also under investigation.
Selling any quantity of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school is considered a felony in Florida, resulting in up to five years' imprisonment. Selling MDMA or cocaine can bring up to 15 years' imprisonment.
