Laurence Dollimore
PARENTS of a baby boy who tested positive for cocaine have been branded ‘parasites’ by furious locals after being arrested in Estepona.
An investigation was launched after the 11-month old was taken to the hospital by his mother, who said he was suffering from stomach problems.
But when doctors at the Hospital Costa del Sol ran tests they were stunned to find the child had cocaine in its system, prompting a tip off to police.
The baby had to be transferred to the Malaga Maternal and Children’s Hospital after his condition worsened and he was placed in intensive care for a month.
He left the ICU in mid-January and is now progressing favourably, a police press release said.
After being tipped off by medical workers, Policia Nacional began probing the baby’s family, a Colombian man and a Spanish woman, both aged 26.
The couple, who lived in Estepona, also have a five-year-old daughter and had recently let the baby’s uncle move in temporarily.
The investigation quickly revealed that both parents were habitual cocaine users and that the mother was taking the narcotic while pregnant.
The baby was born with a cocaine addiction and showed withdrawal symptoms after birth.
He was also not being breastfed, meaning the drugs could not have entered his system via his mother’s milk, suggesting that the baby was fed cocaine.
Police obtained a search warrant for the house and charged the parents with child abuse. The uncle was interviewed but not charged.
The other daughter is now under the care of the uncle while the parents are forbidden from visiting the baby.
The local community has been left shocked by the news, with one Twitter user branding the parents ‘parasites’.
“More parasites who had a baby to receive benefits for cocaine, social services must intervene,” the tweet read.
Others said that it was a disgrace but that it was not an isolated case.
“Poor baby,” one said, “Disgustingly this is not an isolated incident… I hope the family get what they deserve.”
It comes after a five-month old baby was found with high levels of cocaine following a car crash in Murcia last year.
The baby was taken into care after it was found to have a high level of the narcotic in a urine sample.
Her parents both tested positive for the drug after their car was involved in an accident in June, shortly after starting a 200km journey to their home area of Gandia in the Valencian Community.
