A 15-year-old Mexican boy driving a minivan near the Texas-Mexico border was arrested Thursday for attempting to transport $1.1 million worth of marijuana into the United States, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release issued Monday.
Border Patrol agents working near the Harlingen Station in the Rio Grande Valley on Thursday morning witnessed large bundles being loaded into a red minivan. The agents followed the van until the driver pulled over, jumped out of the car and ran away.
Agents successfully chased down the driver. An inspection of the van yielded 1,380 pounds of marijuana, which have an estimated U.S. street value of more than $1 million, according to the release.
“This is a prime example of how transnational criminal organizations are exploiting the youth. These young lives are deliberately put in danger for the profit of smuggling drugs and immigrants,” chief patrol agent Manuel Padilla Jr. said in a statement. “We continue to work with the community by presenting to local schools warning our children of the outcomes of working for these organizations, not only by potentially facing prison time, but also death.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration took possession of the narcotics. The unidentified Mexican teenager was turned over to local law enforcement.
