Border Agents Bust 15-Year-Old With 1,380 Pounds of Weed Worth Over $1.1 Million

Border Patrol agents in Texas' Rio Grande Valley discovered a vehicle, driven by a teenager, smuggling 1,380 pounds of weed valued at over $1.1 million.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents made a big discovery last week in Los Indios, a border town near the southern tip of Texas. How big? Really big. The agents confiscated nearly 1,400 pounds of marijuana, which they turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The weed was valued at more than $1.1 million.

Where'd they find the green worth so much green? In a vehicle driven by a 15-year-old Mexican national, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release.

On Thursday morning, agents stationed in Harlingen, another town in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, reportedly watched multiple people putting "bundles of marijuana" into a car. The agents followed the vehicle and conducted a stop.

As the 15-year-old driver pulled his vehicle over, he got out and tried to run from the agents. That didn't work out for the boy, who was apprehended and turned over to the local police department.

It's unclear what happened to the boy. It's also unclear how many other people were loading drugs into the vehicle, and whether or not they were also apprehended.

Chief Patrol Agent Manuel Padilla, Jr. said in a statement: "This is a prime example of how transnational criminal organizations are exploiting the youth. These young lives are deliberately put in danger for the profit of smuggling drugs and immigrants." He went on, "We continue to work with the community by presenting to local schools warning our children of the outcomes of working for these organizations, not only by potentially facing prison time, but also death."