Recently, surveillance footage of a 16-year-old Mexican boy who died from ingesting pure liquid meth has been obtained by ABC News. In the video, Cruz Velasquez, a high school student, can be seen being interrogated by two border officers at the U.S. border.
According to reports, Velasquez was entering the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry when the two border officers of the US Customs and Border Protection Agency stopped him in his tracks.
The officials then inspected his bag and found two suspicious bottles containing yellowish liquid which the teenage boy claimed to be apple juice.
In order to prove that the liquid was indeed apple juice, the officers made Velasquez take a sip of the lethal drug.
The officers instructed the teen to ingest a total of four sips from the two bottles.
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A few moments after drinking the liquid methamphetamine, Velasquez began to convulse and screamed, “Mi corazón! Mi corazón!” or, “My heart! My heart!” His temperature also reportedly rose to 105 degrees and a pulse rate of 220 beats per minute. He was then rushed to the hospital but died in a matter of 30 minutes.
Doctors proclaimed that he died from a “massive overdose”.
Officers Adrian Parellon and Valerie Baird faced a lawsuit for taunting the boy to drink the meth. They were also accused of failing to conduct a proper test on the confiscated liquid.
In their defense, both officers said that Velasquez drank the liquid voluntarily despite the CCTV footage showing them instructing the boy to drink the lethal drug.
According to Velasquez’s lawyer, Eugene Iredale, the teenager was most likely hired as a drug mule by drug dealers who threatened him that they would kill his sister if he didn’t agree to transport the substance to the US.
Iredale accused the two border officers of not showing compassion and decency to the boy.
“What you see, I think, is a basic lack of compassion and decency toward a 16-year-old boy,” he said.
The two officials also didn’t receive any punishment with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirming that “no further action was warranted and the officers involved were not disciplined.”
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The authorities also claimed that Velasquez death was all an accident.
Meanwhile, the family of the victim filed a private lawsuit and settled for $1 million earlier this year.
Watch the video below to know more about the story:
What can you say about this incident? Do you think the two officers should have been punished? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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