A Texas mom is facing a criminal charge after allegedly selling her 7-year-old son in part to settle a drug debt.
The Texas Department of Public Safety on Thursday announced that 29-year-old Esmeralda Garza, of Corpus Christi, had been arrested on Friday.
“Further investigation revealed two more female children, ages 2 and 3, who were in the process of being sold,” the agency said on its Facebook page.
Agents in the midst of a drug investigation found and recovered the 7-year-old boy while executing a search warrant around 6 a.m. Friday at a home in Nueces County, where a resident of the home said she paid $2,500 to buy the boy from Garza, reports the Corpus Christi Caller Times.
Garza subsequently confirmed the transaction, according to the newspaper, citing her arrest report:
“Garza stated that she and her boyfriend owe drug money and gave her child to [the woman] who pay $500 cash and clear the owe debt and extra $700 when the ‘custody paperwork’ was signed.”
