New trend in drug smuggling: juvenile 'mules' who are U.S. citizens

By Angelica Martinez
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
5:23 p.m. July 20, 2009

SAN DIEGO – Five teenagers have recently been arrested with narcotics strapped to their bodies in what authorities are calling a new trend in drug smuggling along the border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested the teenagers, all U.S. Citizens, on Thursday and Friday at the San Ysidro and Calexico ports of entry. Agents seized roughly 17 pounds of marijuana and just over a pound of brown heroin, worth an estimated $38,000, officials said.

On Thursday morning, a 16-year-old boy from Chula Vista wearing a sweater on a warm day caught the attention of officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Officers checked him and found packages with almost three pounds of marijuana taped to the back of his thighs and around his legs, official said.

About 1:30 p.m. Thursday, a 16-year-old boy was also stopped. Agents patrolling the lines of pedestrians at the Calexico Port of Entry said the boy looked nervous and was walking oddly. They said they found a package taped to his thigh with more than a pound of brown heroin.

Later that day, officials said another boy with an awkward walk was stopped on the San Ysidro pedestrian bridge. The 17-year-old was stopped with four packages of marijuana containing four and a half pounds of marijuana around his thighs and calves, officials said.
Girls are also being recruited to smuggle narcotics.

On Friday morning, a 15-year-old San Diego girl was pulled aside at San Ysidro after agents noticed she was wearing an extra large sweat shirt that looked “suspiciously bulky.â€