Students warned of drug-smuggling recruiters, drugs, drug, students

 

It is a common misconception that people under the age of 18 will be tried as minors if they are caught smuggling drugs into the United States, especially in Yuma County, said U.S. Border Patrol officials. From Jan. 1 through the end of September, 74 percent of juveniles arrested for drug smuggling were tried as adults, said Yuma Sector Agent Spencer Tippets. “It's not just going to be a slap on the wrist, it will stay with you for the rest of your life,” he warned, noting that drug smuggling is a felony that can ruin job opportunities. “The more good choices you make, the more choices you will have in the future. If you make a lot of poor choices, it limits the options you have.” Tippets and fellow agents Robert Lowry and Kyle Estes have been traveling to high schools in Yuma to speak with freshmen about the dangers and consequences associated with drug trafficking through a presentation called “Operation Detour.” During a presentation at Harvest Preparatory Academy on Tuesday, the agents asked students whether they think these types of situations happen in Yuma. Most teens in the audience were not convinced. He then shared a story of a Yuma-area high school student found on the other side of the border fence who had barbed wire wrapped around her neck and had been shot. “This happens,” he said. Tippets said drug-trafficking organizations have recently stepped up their efforts to recruit juveniles to smuggle drugs into the U.S. To further verify that statement, when students were asked how many of them had been approached to take drugs across the border, some raised their hands. Tippets explained that once someone gets involved with drug cartels, there are only two ways to get out: jail or the grave. There is a detour, though, he said: talking with parents, teachers, school counselors, principals, law enforcement officers or an adult they trust about the situation. Students asked, “What if you're just walking down the street and they threaten to kill you if you don't do it?” Tippets responded, “It's not very common for someone you don't know to approach you to try and get you to smuggle drugs. If that did happen, there are officers all around you when you cross the border. Let someone know what's going on and ask for help.” Most of the time, Lowry interjected, students are approached by people they know. Good decision-making is key, he added, and if someone you know approaches you at a party to smuggle drugs, you probably shouldn't be at that party or hanging around with those people in the first place. “If you're in a place where there's drugs and there's alcohol and gangsters — why would you be there? Avoid those types of situations.” Smuggling drugs won't just impact the person involved, but also their friends and family, said Lowry. Chances are, he said, if you're working with a cartel, they know where you live and where you work. “If somebody is that interested to have you drive something through the checkpoint, tell them to do it themselves. You have to think about why they're wanting you to do it. It's because they don't want to be the fall guy. Cartels are willing to do whatever they need to do to make sure they're not the ones that end up in jail.”