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14-year-old girl accused of smuggling drugs from Mexico via bus

01:56 AM CDT on Saturday, August 2, 2008

By Rebecca Lopez / WFAA-TV

Video

14-year-old girl accused of smuggling drugs from Mexico
August 1, 2008 View larger E-mail Clip More Video DALLAS - It's hard to imagine - a child running a drug trafficking ring.

But that's exactly what Dallas police accuse a 14-year-old girl of doing.

They caught her with three suitcases full of marijuana on a bus from the border.

Undercover agents have been working at bus stops to try and catch people smuggling illegal things and money.

Police say in this case it wasn't difficult to spot the teenage smuggler. She was nervous.

Her mother thought she was at a sleep-over with girlfriends. But the Dallas girl hopped a bus to the border to pick up suitcases full of drugs.

"I spoke to her like three or four times a day," her mother said.

Police say the teen arrived on a bus from Laredo to Dallas Thursday.

Dallas undercover officers spotted her trying to catch a taxi at the Tornado bus station.

She had three suitcases with $50,000 worth of marijuana stuffed inside.

"I had no idea she would do something like that and when police called and told me she had 45 pounds of marijuana, I was in shock. I couldn't believe it," her mother added.

Dallas police believe the girl may have been selling the drugs on the streets of Dallas with the help of others.

"It's hard to say whether she had the money or she's had this connection before and she has the ability to go and pick up dope and bring it here," her mother continued.

Hundreds of kids are arrested each year at the border smuggling drugs. Several years ago, teenage girls were caught at the border driving a car full of marijuana.

But this is the first time Dallas police can recall a girl this young being arrested here smuggling drugs from Mexico.

The girl's mother says she was an ordinary teenager but police believe she may have been leading her own drug ring.