Targeted, some drug dealers switch to prostitution A federal crackdown on drug dealers has succeeded in taking some of Boston's most dangerous offenders off the streets, but it is also driving some dealers and gang leaders to pursue another line of criminal work: prostitution. Law enforcement officials and victim advocates say girls as young as 14 have become a prized commodity for criminals who would rather exploit them than run the risk of serving a long federal sentence for dealing drugs. "The girl has become the new drug," said Kelley O'Connell, a sergeant detective who runs the Boston Police Department's human trafficking unit, which has been working with the drug unit to track dealers who may have turned to prostitution....This is progress?