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Border & Immigration

Smugglers Recruiting Teenagers At And Near Schools

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter
Published September 16, 2009 at 11:46 AM PDT
This story was published more than 15 years ago.

SPECIAL REPORT

Teens and Duct Tape: Drug Smugglers' Latest Tactic

U.S. Teens Duct-Taped With Drugs Crossing Border

U.S. federal officials say smuggling groups are recruiting teenagers on school campuses in San Diego and Imperial Counties to carry drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Federal officials in San Diego and Imperial Counties have caught about 130 teenagers so far this year trying to cross the border with drugs duct taped to their bodies. That's more than three times as many as last year.

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The majority are US citizens. They go to schools near the U.S.-Mexico border. They're fluent in both English and Spanish and are comfortable in both countries.

Jose Garcia, who is with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, won't say at which schools recruiters are working.

"We're actively looking into that along with the San Diego Police Department that has their resource officers involved in trying to identify recruiters so that we can disrupt that," said Garcia.

He also said a lack of resources is hampering the investigation in the Imperial County. Federal officials have caught both junior high and high school students with drugs taped to their bodies.

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Border & Immigration Drug WarTijuana
Amy Isackson
Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.
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