The arrests were made Feb. 28. The five male students -- four juveniles and an 18-year-old accused of selling prescription drugs and marijuana at the school -- have since resumed classes, said Nate Taggart, a spokesman for the Weber School District.
The sting used a police officer posing as one of Weber High's 1,800 students. Police made the arrests by arriving at the suspects' classrooms, taking the students into the hallway, handcuffing them and leading them to the office, said Darin Parke, the commander of the drug task force for Weber and Morgan counties.
Parke said the arrests occured in view of other students for a reason.
"We're trying to send a message that we're not going to tolerate drug dealing and drug sales at the high schools," he said. "Kids are supposed to be there to get an education."
Taggart said the school district also permitted undercover operations recently at Bonneville and Roy high schools. The principal at Weber High requested a similar sting.
"We're aware there is a drug issue in our schools," Taggart said. "We want to be proactive instead of reactive. And by doing things like this hopefully you're changing the lives of kids for the better.
"You're stopping problems that exist and hopefully and making kids think twice before they get in drug use or distribution."
Only school and district administrators knew of the operation.
Parke said all five suspects sold drugs in the school. But Deven Coggins, an attorney for one of the suspects, said he has been told his client was not present for any drug transactions. The undercover officer, Coggins said, approached his client and asked if he knew any drug dealers.
Coggins said his client is a 16-year-old who has not been served with any criminal charges, though Coggins expects him to be charged in juvenile court.
"I like the idea of getting the drugs out of the school so kids don't become addicted and have lifetime problems," Coggins said. "On the other hand, I get nerverous about an adult being in an undercover sitution that could lend itself to manipulation of a juvenile."
Steve Godfrey, a senior at Weber High and its student body president, said it was exciting to know an undercover officer was at the school.
"It's a good way to get the kids who are doing the drugs and the wrongdoing," he said.
Godfrey does not know the students arrested and did not see any of his classmates in handcuffs, but word of the arrests spread quickly. He said he received text messages from students saying they were watching K-9 officers search the school.
He later learned the uncover officer attended his journalism class.
"He blended in beautifully," Godfrey said. "He was pretty lazy and kind of dressed down in the darker kind of clothes."
Taggart said the K-9 search did not yield any drugs.
"When we see a potential need for such an operation or when we are approached by a task force, we'll have these again," Taggart said.
