SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. -- An undercover agent with the Summit County Drug Task Force told 7NEWS Wednesday a couple in Silverthorne is suspected of using their 14-year-old son to help negotiate drug deals over the phone.

The agent said he believes the teen was being used to translate and relay information.

Members of the drug task force along with other Summit County area authorities arrested Carlos Rivera-Lopez and his wife, Maria Teresa Rivera-Lopez, on drug and child abuse charges.

An agent told 7NEWS the couple's immigration status is unknown so they are being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The couple's three children, ages 14, 8 and 3, are in the care of the Summit County social services. The teen has not been charged.

The undercover agent also told 7NEWS, a police dog searched the Rivera-Lopez residence in Silverthorne and found 38 grams of suspected marijuana and 85 grams of suspected cocaine. The Summit Daily News newspaper said the police dog detected narcotics in several different areas of the house, including near children’s toys.

For more on the story, read the Summit Daily News.