August 14, 2007

ICE arrests 18-year-old suspect for recruiting teen drug smugglers
High school drug ring allegedly smuggled nearly 30,000 lbs. of marijuana in one year

EL PASO, Texas - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents on Thursday arrested an 18-year-old man suspected of recruiting fellow high school students to smuggle marijuana loads into the United States from Mexico.

The Horizon City Police Department detectives assisted ICE special agents with the investigation and arrest; the El Paso Police Department is currently investigating a related case.

Rene Humberto "Jetta" Perez was arrested in his home in the 12300 block of Tierra Madre Drive in East El Paso on Thursday night. He is charged with conspiracy to import about 1,000 kilos of marijuana between November 2006 and August 2007, according to court documents.

ICE special agents suspect that in the past year, while Perez was enrolled at Horizon City High School, he allegedly recruited between 15 and 20 fellow students to smuggle about 145 loads, or about 29,000 lbs. of marijuana, from Mexico to the El Paso area. Each load weighed about 200 lbs., and Perez allegedly paid the teens $1,500 to smuggle the marijuana across the border, and another $3,500 to drive the vehicle with the concealed contraband to Oklahoma City, Okla. ICE special agents estimate the drug ring paid out about $820,000 to high school students this past year.

"This drug organization preyed on recruiting children," said Roberto G. Medina, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in El Paso. "Our ICE agents identified and dismantled this narcotics network that used high school students to line its pockets with tens of thousands of dollars. The young people who were enticed by this so-called "easy money" have criminal records now."

Perez made his initial appearance in federal court on Friday. His preliminary and detention hearing is scheduled for Aug. 15 in U.S. Magistrate Michael McDonald's court. Meanwhile, Perez remains in the El Paso County Detention Facility without bond.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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