“That was a new low, even for drug traffickers,” said Special Agent in Charge Joe Webber, who runs Customs operations in New York. Asa Hutchinson, director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said the case may signal an uptick in the use of kids as mules. “We’ve had higher airport security since 9-11, so it’s been harder for the normal traveler to transport drugs,” Hutchinson said. “Perhaps that’s why dealers are turning to children.”
Angie arrived on an Avianca flight from Bogota traveling alone. Sparkly-eyed and ponytailed, she was dressed in pink and carried a pink knapsack stuffed with her favorite dolls. In Bogota, she was seen off at the airport with hugs, kisses and balloons; the Avianca steward who looked after her on the flight said she was happy and calm, “a perfect passenger.” (Avianca allows young children to fly solo for a $35 fee, and assigns crew to keep close watch on them.) But in New York, a Customs agent picked out her suitcase even before it was claimed. The Customs agent, who asked that her name not be used, said it was “a bag I liked,” meaning that it was a type of suitcase commonly used by smugglers. When Angie came through Customs accompanied by an Avianca flight attendant, the agent was surprised but undeterred. “I said, ‘Oh, I’d like to see this bag’,” she said. Opening it, she found toys, dresses, tiny sandals and 1,042 grams of heroin hidden in the lining of the bag. “I was shocked,” she told NEWSWEEK. “I couldn’t believe anybody would use a little girl that way,” the agent said. But Angie “had no reaction. I don’t think she had any idea the drugs were there.”
What happened next was heartbreaking for everyone, especially Angie. Because she was involved in a crime, even unknowingly, Customs officials turned her over to New York City juvenile authorities, who placed her in a foster home. “The hardest thing was turning her over to Family Services, because she saw family members [at the airport] and she started crying,” one investigator said. “No one is happy here.” Officials said the family members were Angie’s grandmother and aunt, who denied any knowledge of the heroin shipment and have retained a lawyer to get Angie back. The custody issue is complicated. Angie’s father, John, is currently serving time on drug charges in Minnesota. Her mother, Miriam, was arrested for heroin smuggling in 1996, went to prison in the United States and was deported to Colombia in 2000. (Angie is a U.S. citizen because she was born in the United States.) Colombian sources said Miriam may have helped put Angie on the plane in Bogota. New York City authorities, meanwhile, have charged her with neglect. A custody hearing is scheduled for May 16, but officials said it could take months to decide the little girl’s future.
It is all the more disturbing that Angie has so much company. Teenage mules are common, and teens account for the vast majority of the 500 to 600 juveniles detained every year in smuggling cases. In 1999, Customs agents in Texas nabbed a 16-year-girl driving a pickup loaded with $32 million worth of cocaine. In Manchester, England, last month, a 13-year-old girl was busted with a suitcase containing 13 kilograms of heroin, an enormous shipment. Now preteens like Angie are getting caught at least occasionally; Customs said it has detained a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old. But a federal investigation in Chicago last year uncovered an alleged conspiracy that probably outdoes them all. In a smuggling ring traced to Panama, 35 people were nabbed for “renting” infants to help smugglers import cocaine–hidden in the babies’ formula bottles.
