Except for the last 10 days, the holiday season has been pretty slow for the Marfa Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol. According to Public Affairs Officer Bill Brooks, a man and woman from Missouri tried to smuggle 1,940 lbs. of marijuana through the checkpoint south of Marfa Monday. The drugs were hidden in various compartments of a travel trailer. Last Saturday, agents at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint seized 682 lbs. of marijuana from an El Paso citizen driving an 18-wheeler. The same day, Alpine agents found 65 lbs. of marijuana hidden in the spare tire of a car driven by an Odessa woman. The drugs were worth a total of about $2.1 million. [continues 263 words]
The Texas Commission on Alchol and Drug Abuse (TCADA) has funded a substance abuse, prevention and intervention pilot program in the Big Bend region, servicing area youth since May 2003. The program falls under the management of the Permian Basin Community Centers and is called "Manos Que Ayudan," Spanish for "Helping Hands," and mainly targets kids ages 7 to 17 who are at risk for substance use or abuse. The program is only one of two in the state so far with granted funds from TCADA. [continues 328 words]
