Disturbing footage shows Border Patrol Agents encourage teen to drink liquid meth

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: thesaneone

The problem is this:

First of all, when an officer of the law is concerned that a container may have drugs or other contraband substances within it, they are supposed to secure that container or package as evidence, and prevent its being tampered with, not goad a suspect into, nor permit them to interfere with it, for example, by opening it up and taking a sip. For example, you would not recommend, nor allow a person who claimed a packet of coke was flour, to bake with it, because to do so would interfere with the evidence. The moment a suspicion was raised, the bottles should have been taken away for testing.

Also, with the suspect who was in the process of smuggling said contraband now dead, he cannot be flipped and encouraged to identify or describe the individuals or individual who had him make the trip. This means that the only information the authorities will be able to pass on to other law enforcement agencies in the region, will be forensic data on the composition of the chemical within the bottles, which, while potentially useful in some regard, would not be nearly as helpful as the information which died with the suspect traveler.

If the important thing is to end the supply of these types of drugs, then getting the most information possible out of those who are smuggling them, or performing the role of mule, is absolutely vital, because it will allow better, more precise action to be taken against the origin point of these drugs and those who hold sway over their production.

You can kill a thousand monkeys before an organ grinder hangs up his instrument.

Border Patrol Agents are not officers, they are agents. They can search, interrogate, and arrest. They do not carry and officers commission, and do not act as "police" in any matters other than border security and trafficking.

It looks to me like they were interrogating the individual. I do not think they have the authority to seize your personal property outside of when you are arrested.

Some detail on what they can and cannot do:

www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org...

FWIW, they are not a group I treat particularly well when i interact with them. The question of "are you a US citizen" pisses me off, and is usually answered with, "Are you?". I do not believe they have the legal authority to stop me, as I am in no way able to be viewed as an illegal immigrant, and they'd have no reason to believe I am beyond their desire to not look like they are profiling people.

The government paid 1 million dollars to the family. That's doesn't sound like believing no fault in the matter.

a reply to: roadgravel


Heck, they waited 30 minutes before helping the kid, knowing he was in distressed. They just stood around and watch him while gasping for air.

Those two officers should be prosecuted for chemical assault.

a reply to: GrantedBail

What was truly horrifying was that they laughed and were obviously taking pleasure in this kid's nervousness and desperation.

Both TSA agents were pitiful at their depositions, especially the female who either has a severe neurological impairment which makes her forget proper protocol or who has an extremely uncertain memory ("to the best of my memory" - ugh!! - she started every single answer with those words).

There's no question that we can't turn a blind eye to drugs being brought into our country, but to sit there in a position of authority and laugh while watching this teenager drink what they definitely thought were drugs, is just unforgivable.

originally posted by: roadgravel
The government paid 1 million dollars to the family. That's doesn't sound like believing no fault in the matter.

Lets face it, it is far cheaper that way than to weed out the rogue agents.