Kids these days, you say. They're so advanced with their iPads and texting and … meth smuggling.

Yeah, so says U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which alleges that a 15-year-old girl was caught near the Mexican border in Southern California with $35,000 worth of methamphetamine strapped to her.

Maybe it's a trend:

Early this year CBP officials told us how cartels were recruiting American teens at Southern California high schools, ostensibly because they might not attract the attention of authorities at the border.


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Authorities say a drug-sniffing dog alerted on a 2001 Ford Explorer about 1:45 p.m. Thursday at a CBP checkpoint on highway 86 between Westmorland and Salton City, California.

Inside was a 41-year-old man, a 15-year-old girl, and drugs taped to her body, according to a CBP statement:

… Agents discovered the passenger, a 15-year-old female Mexican citizen, was in possession of falsified immigration documents. After further inspection, agents discovered that the female had two duct taped packages attached to her torso. The packages contained 0.5 kilograms of methamphetamine valued at an estimated street value of more than $35,000.

The drugs, the truck and the suspects all went to the DEA “for further investigation,” says the CBP.

That, to us, means the agents will try to get them to “flip” on their boss. Not a good way to start a career in smuggling.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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