Mexico's Drug Cartels Use Children to Smuggle Its Members Into U.S.

By Joshua Summers First Posted: Mar 23, 2021 05:04 AM EDT

Drug cartels in Mexico are taking advantage of the border crisis in the United States. Apart from smuggling drugs, the cartels are reportedly using children as decoys in smuggling their members into the U.S.

The number of unaccompanied migrant children trying to seek asylum at the southern border is soaring. And the relaxed immigration policies of the Biden administration paved the way for the drug cartels to pursue new tactics in bringing their members inside the border, New York Post reported.

Drug Cartels and Migrant Children

The new tactics of the drug cartels involve migrant families in smuggling their members. The cartels reportedly separate the children from their immigrant parents, then have members pose as the kids' relatives to cross the U.S. border.

Citing an example, Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. Guerra explained that for a mother with three children, the drug cartels would say, "You can cross with one child, we're going to take two children. And we're going to use those two children to smuggle two others and pretend that those are family units."

ABC11 reported that as of March 21, 2020, about 5,000 unaccompanied migrant children are under the custody of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Guerra noted that young criminals would also pose as struggling migrants to cross the border and help fuel the drug trade of their bosses.

He said individuals who might be 21 or 22 years old would claim that they are 16 or 17 years old and tell the authorities that they are unaccompanied minors.

The sheriff further noted that these individuals might also give false names, and they might even have a criminal record in their respective countries.

Some of the young drug criminals have also tried to disguise themselves by removing their clothes and blend in with the rest of the migrants. However, Guerra said authorities could identify them by not wearing muddy shoes with cleaner clothes, and they do not smell.

Mexico Smugglers and Migrants

Apart from blending in with migrant children and using migrant families to bring their members inside the U.S., drug cartels also use bracelets to track the migrants once they are already inside the country.

Reuters noted that the plastic bands are colored green, blue, white, and red. Some of them are labeled with "arrivals" or "entries," written in Spanish. Border Patrol agents were able to encounter migrants with the said wristbands during several apprehensions.

"Information on the bracelets represents a multitude of data that is used by smuggling organizations," said Matthew Dyman, a spokesperson for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Dyman added that the bracelets could symbolize "payment status or affiliation with smuggling groups."

Guerra noted that the current immigration policy makes the drug cartels' business be in a "boom." Aside from using migrant children to smuggle their members into the country, he said the drug cartels are also charging immigrants to help them illegally cross the border.

"Anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500 for every single body, and you put the number to it," he said, adding that drug cartels from Mexico are now making more money on humans than they are on drugs.

Meanwhile, Guerra said they are focusing on stopping the distribution of drugs in going up "north."

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