"Single" dad used 5-year-old son as decoy in $10,000 heroin smuggling operation; son now in CPS custody, but what happened to Mom? (Sparta, New Jersey)

Well, nothing like having a "family business," is there? Notice that dad CHRISTOPHER ENNIS is described here as "single,", but given that his 5-year-old son is now in the custody of CPS, it appears that he was not just single but CUSTODIAL. So what happened to Mom? How was a Daddy with a $10,000 heroin smuggling operation able to get child custody? A few well placed bribes? How come that story is not being told?

INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1380929/Father-accused-using-5-year-old-son-decoy-heroin-smuggling-operation.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Father 'used his five-year-old son as decoy in $10,000 heroin smuggling operation'By David Gardner
Last updated at 8:48 AM on 27th April 2011

A father used his own five-year-old son as a decoy to divert suspicion from his heroin smuggling operation, say police.

Christopher Ennis allegedly took the boy along with him on a drug run and hid 500 bags of heroin worth $10,000 in a gym bag underneath some toys and clothes.

But the ploy was reportedly discovered by police after Ennis was pulled over for a minor traffic offence in Sparta, New Jersey.

‘He brought the five-year-old along so he would appear less suspicious to law enforcement and, if he was stopped, he did not believe police would search a child's toy bag,’ said a police spokesman.

Ennis, 31, was stopped for driving with an expired inspection sticker on his car.

He was following another car being driven by Alexander Dewer, 43, which was also pulled over by police on Saturday night.

The officers became suspicious when the two men gave conflicting stories and a plastic wrapper often used to package heroin was spotted on the floor of Dewar’s vehicle.

When officers asked to search the cars on Saturday night, Ennis is said to have given his permission.

'He must have felt good about giving consent, never thinking we'd find anything,’ Sparta police Sgt John-Paul Beebe told the Newark Star Ledger.

But police found the heroin in the 2000 Ford Explorer along with hypodermic syringes. The boy was strapped in his child’s seat in the back.

Police said heroin is commonly sold for $7 a bag in urban areas and then resold at twice the price in the suburbs. ‘Heroin is on the upswing in this county and the upswing has been pretty consistent,' said Sgt. Beebe.

‘The cost is low and the demand is very, very high,’ he added.

Single father Ennis, of Branchville, New Jersey, was charged with using a juvenile in a drug distribution scheme, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, child abuse, possession of needles and drug paraphernalia.

He is being held on $70,000 bail and his son is now in the care of child protective services.Dewer was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and multiple motor vehicle violations. He was released on his own recognizance.