U.S. federal officials say they're seeing a disturbing trend with U.S. teenagers strapping drugs to their bodies and trying to smuggle them through U.S. Mexico pedestrian border crossings.
U.S. federal officials say they've caught more than double the number of teenagers so far this year compared to last. The teenagers are trying to pass through pedestrian border crossings with drugs taped to their bodies.
Officials say they've arrested 51 teenagers at San Ysidro and Otay Mesa during the last 10 months. That's compared to 19 in all of 2008.
The number of teens and amounts of drugs they're smuggling is a fraction of cross-border drug traffic.
Mike Carney, who is with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, says its part of the cat-and-mouse game law enforcement and smugglers play.
"You know, they're constantly evolving, trying different techniques," Carney said. "They felt that the pedestrian lanes, you know, provided them a better chance of getting their product through."
Officials say this year and last, the majority of the teens they've caught were trying to smuggle marijuana through the San Ysidro pedestrian crossing.
