Pubdate: Fri, 30 Oct 2009
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.signonsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Leslie Berestein
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

DON'T TRY SMUGGLING DRUGS, FEDERAL AGENTS TELL STUDENTS

SOUTH COUNTY -- Not long ago, the anti-drug message from the 
government to teens was just say no to taking drugs. These days in 
San Diego County, kids are learning to just say no to smuggling drugs.

Yesterday, a stream of students shuffled into the gym at Montgomery 
High School in South County, clambering onto the bleachers as if 
attending a pep rally. They were there to listen to agents from U.S. 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement warn them about the dangers of 
being recruited to work as drug mules.

 From Oct. 1 of last year to the end of September, 54 youths from 14 
to 17 were caught smuggling marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin and 
cocaine through the pedestrian lanes of the San Ysidro port of entry, 
the drugs taped to their bodies. Only one teen was caught doing this 
during the same period the previous year. Arrests of teens for drug 
smuggling were up at other California ports of entry as well, according to ICE.

Montgomery High is one of several South Bay high schools in which ICE 
officials have been doing outreach since May. According to the 
agency, schools in this region have been hit hardest by recruiters 
for drug traffickers, who approach teens who are U.S. citizens or 
legal residents and offer them money to smuggle.

"Let me tell you, you are not prepared to deal with people in the 
drug trade," Jose Garcia, deputy special agent in charge of ICE in 
San Diego, told the students. "You are not smart enough, mean enough 
or evil enough ... you have not lived life that long."

Students were warned of the penalties and shown slides of teens who 
had been caught smuggling bundles of drugs taped around their waists, 
thighs or ankles. Even those who were minors were prosecuted under 
state law, served time in juvenile facilities and were given 
probation; teens who were legal residents, but not citizens, were deported.

Juveniles can be prosecuted in federal court for some crimes, 
including drug offenses, but the bar is high. The U.S. Attorney's 
Office said several criteria must be met, including that the state 
does not have jurisdiction, or refuses jurisdiction. The offense must 
be a felony crime of violence, a controlled substance violation or a 
firearms offense.

As a result, state charges are more common. A statute also grants 
state courts authority to declare a minor who has violated federal 
law, including laws against immigrant smuggling, a ward of the court 
subject to juvenile detention.

Smuggling organizations have long recruited minors. In El Centro, a 
boy is standing trial for second-degree murder after he was accused 
of crashing a van loaded with illegal immigrants into a canal last 
year, killing six people. He is believed to have been 15 at the time, 
too young for a driver's license.

Teens have also been recruited in the past to smuggle drugs, but the 
recent escalation along the California-Mexico border has prompted 
concern from federal officials, who are working with many schools to 
stage presentations. ICE officials have even done student outreach at 
a local middle school.

"This is an unfortunate part of what goes on, especially in this 
community," said Manuel Rubio, grants manager for Sweetwater Union 
High School District, which is working with ICE to make presentations 
at other schools. "I'm glad we are bringing it to light now."

The appeal for youths who are recruited is the idea of easy money, 
along with a sense of thug-life glamour, said Garcia of ICE. But 
payments are fairly low, with a young drug courier perhaps getting 
$50 to $200 to smuggle drugs taped to his or her body, he said.

After the presentation, one teen said she has overheard some students 
bragging about earning money illegally by selling fireworks, or 
indicating with a gesture -- fingers to the lips, holding an 
invisible joint -- that they sell pot.

"I think that it's stupid, the fact that people do this at all to get 
money," said Ana Niebla, 15. "There are some better things to do, 
like get a job."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake