Accused of smuggling Soma tablets, selling to students

Senta Scarborough
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 30, 2004 12:00 AM

A Gilbert high school girl may be charged with felonies in the distribution of muscle relaxants smuggled from Mexico to students at four East Valley high schools.

Mesa police say Kamry Clark, 16, a Mesquite High School student, was arrested Tuesday after she and a 16-year-old friend smuggled nearly 2,900 tablets of a generic version of the muscle-relaxant Soma in a pillowcase while on a trip with Clark's parents.

Clark planned to use $300 of her own money to purchase the drugs and took orders and cash from customers before heading to Puerto Peņasco, Sonora, also known as Rocky Point, last Saturday, Gilbert police records show.

"They were distributing in large quantities," said Mesa police Sgt. Sean Kelly, supervisor of school resource officers. "They had established a network for distributing this."

The incident, which police announced Thursday, is the sixth drug investigation in the past two months involving Mesa and Gilbert students. Only Monday, 350 parents packed a drug-awareness meeting put on by the Gilbert Unified School District, partly because of concerns about students abusing drugs found in many households.

The police report said Clark told investigators that Soma and Oxycotin use have become an "epidemic" in schools that needs immediate attention.

Mesa and Gilbert police began a joint investigation Tuesday after a student at the Gilbert district's Desert Ridge High told school administrators that students were planning to bring Soma onto the Mesa campus. Clark was booked into the Maricopa County Southeast Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of possessing prescription-only drugs for sale, transporting of prescription-only drugs for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia.

She was released to the custody of her parents after a night in the facility.

Clark's friend and six other teens, ages 16 and 17, are believed to be involved in the distribution ring and could face charges.

The drugs went to students at Desert Ridge and to students at three Mesa high schools: Mountain View, East Valley Institute of Technology and Westwood.

Two students at Mountain View have been suspended for 10 days for their involvement, school spokesman Joe O'Reilly said.

One Mountain View High School student had 75 pills, individually wrapped for resale, on him at school, police said.

Police said Clark and her friend purchased $600 worth of carisoprodol, a generic equivalent for Soma, at one Rocky Point drugstore.

Clark told police the clerk tried to sell her "low-grade" Soma but she demanded better quality.

"Kamry explained that it is fairly common knowledge among the Soma-using segment of the high school population that there are several varieties of Soma ranging from relatively weak tablets made in Mexico and South America to the potent Soma made by several companies in the United States that are shipped to Mexico," the police report released Thursday reads.

Of the pills purchased and distributed, only 1,800 have been recovered by police, including some from Clark's home in the 800 block of East Loma Vista Street and several students' homes and found on students at schools and in their vehicles.

"Our main concern is there are still 1,100 unaccounted-for Soma tablets," said Detective Tim Gaffney, a Mesa police spokesman.

"Our fear is that other students could take these pills and become sick as a result. Parents need to sit down and talk with their children about the dangers of drugs, especially prescription drugs."

Gilbert schools spokeswoman Dianne Bowers said she was happy a student helped break up the ring.

"In this situation, we had a student who had the courage to talk to administrators," Bowers said.

"Responsible reporting can save the life of a friend."