Mule Train

It's easy to dismiss anything Congressman Steve King says because it's Steve King.

Once again, the message is missed because of the messenger and the scientific community is united in that fact.

The Ragister, their editorial board, RekHA Basu and their national ilk, all dismiss King because he's not politically correct and they see the world through their far left colored lenses.

The media can't bothered to check the accuracy of King's statement.

I found news stories, of drug cartels utilizing young drug mules, dating back to this 2001 USA TODAY article --

Drug cartels load up young 'mules'

On April 19, Customs agents arrested four teens who were carrying marijuana as they tried to enter El Paso. The youngest, a 14-year-old girl from Juarez, was arrested just before 4:30 p.m. with about 66 pounds of pot. Three hours later, agents caught an El Paso boy, 17, trying to smuggle 103 pounds of pot into his hometown.

A few minutes later a Juarez boy, 17, tried to go through with 83 pounds. Finally, at 10:40 p.m., an El Paso boy, 17, was caught with 122 pounds. With an estimated value of $1,000 a pound, the pot confiscated in the arrests was worth a total of about $374,000, authorities say.

In January 2012, Mexico Gulf Reporter had this article --

Cartel use of child drug mules on the rise

In October MGRR reported on the drug cartels' extensive recruitment of children along the Texas border, who are used to transport narcotics into the U.S. below the radar. Mexican drug cartels recruit Texas school kids, says Dept. of Public Safety. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says that such activity increased precipitously in the last quarter of 2011, with San Diego a hot spot for recruitment of the young mules.Most of them are between the ages of 11 and 17, of Mexican origin, bi-lingual and know the border area well. Some are illegally residing in the United States with their families

In March 2012, 10News reported --

ICE: Number of Young Drug Mule Arrests Rising

The number of children being arrested trying to smuggle illegal drugs across the border continues to rise, according to new numbers released by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Federal officials told 10News that every time the violence subsides in Tijuana, more young drug mules are arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border. They said they are seeing more instances of harder drugs and more young teenage girls being recruited locally to smuggle those drugs across the border.

Photos obtained by 10News show teens who have recently been arrested trying to cross into San Diego with illegal drugs strapped to their bodies and hidden inside their cars.

In 2011, 190 juveniles -- ranging from 13 to 18 years old -- were arrested. That is a 13 percent increase from 2010. Thirty-three arrests have been made so far this year.

In November 2012, NPR's All Things Considered aired --

Mexico's Drug War Is Changing Childhood

The story states, Cartels have also begun recruiting kids to work, often as mules.

There are no official statistics about underage mules. But according to U.S. Customs and Immigration, in the past three years, the number of kids under 18 caught carrying drugs over the border increased tenfold.

In December 2012, The U.S. Border Security Council carried this article --

Sneak of the Month: Children, Teens Recruited as Drug Mules in Record Numbers

NBC7 in San Diego reported that Mexican drug cartels are aggressively recruiting children and teens to smuggle drugs across the border. Federal authorities are alarmed at what appears to be an increase in children as young as 12 being used as drug mules.

In 2011, records show 190 children (ages 18 and under) were caught smuggling drugs along the San Diego County-Mexico border.

In June of this year, KTLA reported, and carried via the Tribune network --

Teen Drug Mules

Many of them aren't old enough to drive -- but they're old enough to carry drugs into our country.

There's a startling trend among young teens: they're trying to smuggle drugs into the U.S. at the request of powerful Mexican drug cartels.

At the Port of Entry in San Ysidro California, 100,000 people cross the border from Mexico every day. Many of them are teenagers. And this year more than ever, border agents have their eyes on teens as possible drug mules.

"In the 5 months between March and July there were 238 body carries that we caught here at San Ysidro," Port Director Oscar Preciado told KTLA, "And of those, 67 were kids under 18 years old."

"They strap the drugs either to their legs, their back, their chest, groin area. Anywhere they can tape them, they'll tape them," Preciado says. "We've found mostly marijuana, but we have found heroin, methamphetamines, and some cocaine."

This month, The Christian Science Monitor reported --

Along key stretch of US-Mexico border, more kids running drugs

a string of recent cases in Arizona where juveniles have been arrested trying to smuggle drugs into the United States. While luring teens to act as drug mules for a few hundred bucks is not a new practice, the Tucson sector of the US-Mexico border – the nation's busiest – has seen an alarming jump in the past two years.

In 2012, 244 minors faced drug-smuggling charges in the Tucson sector, compared with 122 in 2011. By the end of this May, the number was already 154.

Moreover, all along the border, officials say minors are increasingly being used to traffic hard drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine, not just marijuana, as was mostly the case in the past.

At the ports of entry and interior checkpoints, border authorities are encountering teens who strap drugs to their abdomen, inner thighs, and other body parts.

Investigators have seen children as young as 12 act as drug mules, although most usually are between the ages of 15 and 18

An ICE spokeswoman stated about the increase in hard drugs, That's kind of new and alarming.

Apparently, only to her and Congressman King