Our free newsletter
offers tips and tools
you need to create
a happier and
healthier family!

Categories


All Articles
CALL: (888) 972-7736

Drug cartels look for children to help with smuggling

By Staff Writer

Drug trafficking is a dangerous, illegal business, but some of the most active smugglers in the southwestern U.S. are children. In South Texas, school administrators and law enforcement officials are working to educate the public on drug traffickers who are targeting children to do their work for them, according to KENS-5.

U.S. Border Patrol agent Griselda Zapata recently spoke to students in El Paso, Texas, where children are susceptible into falling to these drug trafficking traps. Oftentimes, kids are lured into the business with promises of everything from money to new clothes. Individuals in the illegal business frequently tell children that they cannot be thrown in jail for lending a helping hand. Zapata told the El Paso students that despite their age, they are still subject to legal trouble if they choose to work with the smugglers.

Local law enforcement officials say that parents typically do not want to believe that their kids are vulnerable to drug cartels. However, smugglers are constantly on the look-out for new members who blend in with the community and have access to a motor vehicle.

Approximately 30,000 people were arrested in 2009 by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the Department of Justice. Drug rehab programs can help smugglers who want to get clean and stop running into trouble with the law. 

Share |