Jul 21, 2011

Whack-a-mole Drug War: At Border, Teacher Becomes Unwitting Drug Smuggler

The full story of the entrapment in the drug war of a school teacher who crosses the border daily.

At Border, Teacher Becomes Unwitting Drug Smuggler : NPR: "Ana Isela Martinez Amaya is a teacher at a bilingual charter school in El Paso. She had just been named the Teacher of the Year at her school.

By the end of the day, the 35-year-old mother of two would be under arrest, accused of attempting to smuggle more than 100 pounds of marijuana into the United States.

Because Martinez crossed daily into the U.S., she had applied for a SENTRI pass from the Department of Homeland Security. The pass costs $122 a year and pass holders must submit to a rigorous background check. In exchange, they can use the SENTRI Express Lane at the border, where travelers generally are processed much faster.

Because of her SENTRI pass and because of her regular commute, Martinez unwittingly had fallen victim to a new scheme by a local drug smuggling gang."

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