Dad arrested for making kids work in pot house (Miami, Florida)

So while daddy ERWIS RIVERO was tutoring his daughters in the values of, uh, private enterprise, I wonder where the mother was. Notice that there is no mention of her at all. Why? Single dad?

INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/05/2151934/dad-arrested-for-making-kids-work.html

Dad arrested for making kids work in pot houseA father was arrested for involving his daughters in the family business: growing marijuana.

By Christina Veiga
cveiga@miamiherald.com

A South Miami man has been arrested for having his daughters help him operate a marijuana grow house out of his home.

Police said the man, Erwis Rivero, 36, physically abused the girls when they refused to help with his drug trade.

South Miami Police arrested Rivero on March 25 at his home on the 6100 block of Southwest 62nd Street in South Miami. He has been charged with felony possession of marijuana, having a place to cultivate marijuana, having children residing where marijuana is being cultivated, tampering with evidence, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Rivero has not been charged with child abuse because police could not find evidence of the allegations, said South Miami police spokesman Major René Landa.

The girls are being sheltered by the Department of Children and Families, department spokeswoman Lissette Valdes-Valle wrote in an e-mail. The department has a history with the family, Valdes-Valle said. She declined to comment further because an investigation is ongoing.

Landa said the police were asked to help DCF investigators interview the family after receiving a call alleging the father hit the girls when they didn’t want to help bag the drugs, Landa said.

When South Miami police went to the home, Rivero gave permission to search the residence, according to the police report.

According to the report:

Officers found 161 grams of marijuana, a crack pipe and a marijuana pipe. A room in the corner of the house had been turned into a growing laboratory with an electrical panel, reflective panels and high-intensity light bulbs. There were no plants because the lab was being remodeled.

South Miami police have begun cracking down on drug dealers in the city after a period of inaction while the department lacked permanent leadership. A joint operation with other state and local agencies last year snagged 20 drug dealers in South Miami. The department’s special investigations unit recovered almost $12 million worth of illegal narcotics last year.

“We’ve come in here and... picked back up. They were selling indescretly,” Landa said.

Mayor Philip Stoddard credits new police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro, who began organizing drug sweeps almost immediately after being hired, with the cleanup.

“He was just showing what you can really do if you wanted to, and tried,” Stoddard said. “I’ve had fewer complaints from residents.”