TEEN DRUG-SMUGGLING ARRESTS JUMP

EL PASO -- More juvenile drug smugglers have been arrested in March on
the El Paso border than in the last two months combined, U.S. Customs
and Border Protection officials said.

There have been 17 accused smugglers age 17 and younger arrested in
March compared with five in February and seven in January, U.S.
Customs and Border Protection officials.

"The rising number of children we are catching smuggling drugs should
serve as a wake-up call to parents in our community," said Ana
Hinojosa, Customs director of field operations in El Paso.

"Parents should have the 'drug talk' with their teens now if they
haven't done so already because the consequences of involvement in
this activity are serious," Hinojosa said in a statement.

Customs spokesman Roger Maier said the spike this year is significant
because officers were seeing only about two to four juvenile smuggling
cases per month last year.

In one of the most recent busts, a 15-year-old Fabens boy was caught
Thursday in the pedestrian lane of the Fabens bridge with 5 pounds of
marijuana taped to his thighs, officials said. The boy, who had been
reported as missing, was turned over to the El Paso County Sheriff's
Office.

Officials said the youngest smuggler this month was a 14-year-old girl
caught March 18 at the Bridge of the Americas with 8 pounds of
marijuana hidden on her body. Teen drivers, usually 17 or 16, have
also been caught smuggling larger drug loads hidden in vehicles.

Authorities believe that drug traffickers lie to teens telling them
that they won't be prosecuted if caught at the border because they are
underage. Authorities said the cases are prosecuted.

Juveniles are turned over to the El Paso County Attorney's Office
because the office handles juvenile crime. Smugglers who are 17 are
handed to El Paso police or sheriff's deputies because they are
prosecuted as adults under Texas law.