Grandpa pusher

An 82-year-old man from Henan Province was caught red-handed in a recent drug bust in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province and confessed he was capitalizing on his advanced age for his drug smuggling.

Zhao Degui had served time for harboring criminals 15 years ago and released in 1990 to live a clean life. However, starting this year he started smuggling drugs to Xi’an for a gang of drug traffickers. He received 1,000 to 3,000 ($146-440) for each trip but was recently caught at the scene of street drug bust which netted 75 grams of heroin and three arrests in Xi’an.

Zhao confessed he was recruited by a street drug gang who thought his old age would place him above suspicion as a drug smuggler.

“I did it for money because I have to support my wife, my two daughters and a son,” he said, weeping like a child.

The local police said he was the oldest person to be busted for drugs in the region and employed no special techniques, other than his elderly, ordinary appearance. “He simply put drugs in his bag but evaded many drug checks, because we tend to be less vigilant with older people, particular people of his age,” said Sun Yi, instructor for the local narcotics squad.

The case is still under investigation and Zhao reportedly is cooperating with police.