Child walking down highway alone leads to meth bust and five arrests, Texas cops say

A young child who was found alone while walking down a Texas highway led deputies to a meth bust and five arrests, officials said.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said a caller reported seeing the child on Nov. 3, according to a statement posted to Facebook. The child was then brought to the sheriff’s office while detectives tried to find where he belonged.

Narcotics detectives learned the boy, along with two siblings, lived with their parents in the Cedar Point subdivision, the sheriff’s office said. Detectives went to the kid’s home, where they found his two siblings, their mother and three other people. The children’s father wasn’t home, officials said, as he had recently left to try and pick up the child who was found alone.

McClatchy News is not naming the adults to protect the identity of the children.

While detectives were at the home, the sheriff’s office says it found probable cause for a search warrant of the home and property.

“During the search narcotics detectives located and seized numerous different illegal narcotics including methamphetamine and the items used to distribute the illegal substance,” according to the statement.

All four adults at the home were arrested in connection to various drug charges, officials said, and the dad was arrested later on . Officials found a “large amount of methamphetamine” in his vehicle that he had driven to the sheriff’s office.

Both the mom and dad were also charged with abandoning and endangering of a child.

The three children were placed into custody of child protective services.

Polk County is about 80 miles northeast of Houston.

This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Child walking down highway alone leads to meth bust and five arrests, Texas cops say."