On November 18, 2013 around 6:30pm, Cruz Velazquez Acevedo attempted to cross the border from Mexico into the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Sixteen years old at the time, he was directed out of the main line to the “soft” secondary area to be questioned by CBP Officers Adrian Perallon and Valerie Baird regarding two bottles he was carrying with him that contained a yellow/orange liquid. When questioned, Cruz stated it was juice, though the two guards suspected it was in fact liquid methamphetamine, hence their redirection of Cruz into the secondary pedestrian lane.
Officers Perallon and Baird then told Cruz to drink from the bottle to prove it was juice, and Cruz took a drink. Officer Perallon then asked Cruz to take another drink and he complied again. He in fact drank twice more from the bottle.
As he stood in front of the officers, Cruz started to sweat profusely and as they took him to the security office, he became pale and agitated, and began to shake uncontrollably. After awhile of Cruz begging for help from the officials, repeatedly stating “my sister” and “my cousins” and “my heart,” the officials summoned medical care.
Cruz was transported to Sharp Chula Vista where he was pronounced dead at 8:57pm.
The family’s attorney, Eugene Iredale, acknowledged that the teen did something wrong when he tried to bring drugs into the United States on Nov. 18, 2013. “But he’s a 16-year-old boy with all the immaturity and bad judgment that might be characteristic of any 16-year-old kid,” Iredale told The Washington Post. “He was basically a good boy, he had no record, but he did something stupid. In any event, the worst that would’ve happened to him is that he would’ve been arrested and put in a juvenile facility for some period of time.
Media Coverage
Leaders in Congress react to ABC News investigation of border agency
ABC News
July 28, 2017
“Drug smuggling is wrong and is a crime, but this teenage boy did not deserve a death sentence,” Lofgren told ABC News. “For CBP officers to inflict a summary death sentence is not only immoral, but also illegal.”
Teenager Dies After Drinking Liquid Meth In Front Of Border Protection Officers
He told them it was juice, and his family claim the agents coerced him into drinking it.
Buzzfeed.com
July 29, 2017
The new video, released by Velazquez Acevedo's family via their lawyer Eugene Iredale, shows the teen, wearing a white hoodie, pick up one of the bottles and sip it. He took four sips of the liquid in total
Video shows U.S. border officers telling Mexican teen to drink the liquid meth that killed him
The Washington Post
July 29, 2017
The family’s attorney, Eugene Iredale, acknowledged that the teen did something wrong when he tried to bring drugs into the United States on Nov. 18, 2013. “But he’s a 16-year-old boy with all the immaturity and bad judgment that might be characteristic of any 16-year-old kid,” Iredale told The Washington Post. “He was basically a good boy, he had no record, but he did something stupid. In any event, the worst that would’ve happened to him is that he would’ve been arrested and put in a juvenile facility for some period of time.
Teenager’s Death At San Ysidro Port Of Entry Inspires Calls For Action
KPBS.com
Monday, July 31, 2017
“This was a 16-year-old boy who was doing something admittedly wrong, who was doing something for which he deserved possibly to be punished, certainly to be brought before the court and called upon to answer for his conduct, but instead these agents decided to have a little fun at his expense and take the risk that they imposed on him, that he would die — which is exactly what happened," Iredale said.
https://www.npr.org/2017/08/01/540870150/after-death-of-teen-who-drank-liquid-meth-at-checkpoint-lawmakers-call-for-actio
National Public Radio
August 1, 2017
Gene Iredale, the attorney for the boy's family, said the customs officers broke protocol because they should have simply tested the liquid with kits they have on hand.
Mexican teen's family gets $1m over death in US custody
BBC News
March 22, 2017
Mr Iredale said that the settlement had been reached after several conversations between the parties. Mr Velazquez's parents have been paid the $1m agreed, he said.