The US-Mexico border has a lot of issues. Not just in terms of immigration and illegal passage. Even legal residents and valid custom checks can go wrong.
The legal standing of cases in Mexico differs significantly from what has legal standing in the US. One such problem is with controlled substances.
Things legal, or at least easily obtainable, in one country may be contraband in the other. Therefore, border patrol must work to control the flow of these substances into the US so they can’t be sold or spread on US soil.
And when people get caught, they have two options: take the penalty for breaking the law or get rid of the drugs the fastest way they can.
Unfortunately, Cruz Marcelino Velazquez Acevedo took the second route. He got caught with a substance he claimed was “just apple juice.” But the border check disagreed, and so did their drug-sniffing dogs.
Rather than being seen, Cruz drank his juice and suffered immediate consequences, unfortunately leading to his death.
This case opened up controversy around the use of tactics by the border patrol, the availability of substance abuse, and the troubles at the border again.
10 /10 A Teen from Tijuana
Velazquez was only 16 years old, just a high school student from Tijuana, Mexico. He had no prior criminal record or outstanding incidents to his name.
He wasn’t a career criminal, and perhaps, he may have been involved with the wrong crowd.
And he was left undereducated about drugs, enough to take a lethal quantity of them to throw authorities off his back when pushed into a corner. Unfortunately, he died at 16 due to his actions’ complications.
9 /10 Muling
It was alleged that Velazquez was offered money to bring the illegal substance across the border and to hide them on his person as apple juice.
However, the sense in clear plastic bottles with no markers was caught by drug-sniffing dogs employed by the border agents.
He was doing “muling,” acting as a carrier or “mule” to bring drugs across the border from where they are made to where they can be processed or sold. It was believed he would earn just $100 for this dangerous act.
8 /10 Liquid Meth
The substance Velazquez drank was methamphetamine in its liquid form.
Meth, most commonly distributed as “crystal meth” in a solid state, can be made as a liquid before being processed into the much better-known smoking form. It is highly concentrated as a liquid and has an amber-like color.