CRACKING DOWN ON SMUGGLING IN COCHISE COUNTY.
OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS, COUNTY ATTORNEY HAS BEEN
PROSECUTING TEENAGERS AS ADULTS WHEN IT COMES TO FELONY DRUG
CRIMES. IT'S A PRACTICE THAT'S PROVEN
EFFECTIVE SAYS THE COUNTY SHERIFF.
WE SHOULD CAUTION YOU, SOME OF WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO SEE MAY BE
DISTURBING. >> WHEN I FIRST SWORE IN AS
COCHISE COUNTY ATTORNEY, I HAD BEEN HEARING FROM A LOT OF
AGENTS ABOUT A PARTICULAR PROBLEM THAT WE HAD DOWN HERE,
AND THAT WAS QUITE SIMPLY THAT JUVENILES WERE BEING USED BY THE
CARTEL TO SMUGGLE LARGE QUANTITIES OF DRUGS, AND THAT
THERE WAS NOTHING HAPPENING TO THEM.
AND AS A RESULT IN THE CARTEL, THE PEOPLE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF
THE BORDER, WERE ABLE TO ALSO BE TRUTHFUL WITH KIDS BY TELLING
THEM, LOOK, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY.
CHANCES ARE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET CAUGHT.
IF YOU DO GET CAUGHT, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET PROSECUTED.
>> THEN IN 2015, COCHISE COUNTY ATTORNEY BRIAN McINTYRE STARTED
CHARGING TEEN DRUG SMUGGLERS AS ADULTS.
>> MOST IMPORTANTLY I GOT THE WORD OUT IN MEXICO THAT CROSSING
THROUGH COCHISE COUNTY AT LEAST IS A REALLY BAD IDEA.
>> IN THE FIRST MONTH, McINTYRE CHARGED 39 TEENAGERS FOR
TRANSPORTING MARIJUANA, A CLASS 2 FELONY.
IT CARRIES A MINIMUM PRISON SENTENCE OF ABOUT THREE YEARS.
AS A COUNTY ATTORNEY, YOU CAN SAY, I'M GOING TO PROSECUTE.
BUT THERE COULD ALSO BE A JUDGE WHO SAYS, THIS IS TOO SEVERE.
I'M NOT PROSECUTING A 14-YEAR-OLD FOR AN ADULT CRIME.
>> WELL, WE DID SEE SOME CASES REMANDED BACK AT THE DISCRETION
OF THE COURT. THAT'S FINE, AND THAT'S
ACTUALLY, I THINK, WHY THAT'S BUILT INTO THE STATUTE IS THAT
IT WOULDN'T JUST BE A PROSECUTOR'S DECISION.
>> AS THE MONTHS PROGRESSED, THE NUMBERS DROPPED.
IN THE FALL OF 2017, HE PROSECUTED TEN.
IN MARCH OF 2018, THE NUMBER DROPPED TO ZERO.
HOW DO YOU SORT OF ACCEPT THAT, THAT YOU ARE SENDING TEENAGERS
TO PRISON? >> FIRST OF ALL, THE ARIZONA
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, THEY HAVE A MINORS UNIT.
THE KIDS ARE KEPT SIGHT AND SOUND SEPARATE FROM ADULTS.
THEY'RE EDUCATED, AND THERE ARE PROGRAMS THERE FOR THEM.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE COMMUNITIES THAT MOST OF THESE INDIVIDUALS
ARE COMING FROM, THEY WERE ALREADY DONE WITH ANY CONCEPT OF
PUBLIC EDUCATION, AT LEAST ON THE MEXICAN SIDE.
THEY WERE ALREADY EXPECTED TO WORK 40 OR MORE HOURS A WEEK IF
THEY WERE GOING TO CONTRIBUTE AT ALL TO THEIR HOUSEHOLD.
THEY WERE ESSENTIALLY BEING TREATED AS ADULTS IN MEXICO, AND
THEY WOUND UP GETTING TREATED AS ADULTS HERE.
>> TO SUPPORT HIS CLAIM, McINTYRE GAVE US THESE PHOTOS OF
A TEENAGER HIS OFFICE WORKED WITH, A SMUGGLER WHO LOST HIS
LOAD AND WAS BEATEN BY CARTEL MEMBERS.
THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WILL WATCH THIS, IN TUCSON AND IN PHOENIX
AND THINK, WHAT? THAT'S INCREDIBLE.
YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT SMUGGLERS ARE RECRUITING TEENAGERS AND IF
THINGS GO SOUTH, THERE'S PHYSICAL VIOLENCE THAT RESULTS?
>> EVERY DAY. WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT
OBVIOUSLY THE CONCEPT OF BORDERS AND FENCES AND THOSE KIND OF
THINGS AUTOMATICALLY RAISES STRONG FEELINGS IN PEOPLE.
BUT WHAT WE HAVE TO REMEMBER IS THAT THE RULES ARE DIFFERENT ON
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BORDER. SO WHAT SHOULD CAUSE PEOPLE
OUTRAGE -- AND THIS IS WHAT I EXPLAINED TO KIDS AND OTHER
PEOPLE. OVER 100,000 PEOPLE IN MEXICO
HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THE CARTELS. OF COURSE THEY DON'T HESITATE TO
BEAT A CHILD WITH A TWO BY FOUR FOR LOSING A LOAD BECAUSE
ESSENTIALLY THEY DON'T HESITATE TO DO ANYTHING.
WHILE WE HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ON THIS SIDE AND IN COCHISE COUNTY
TO NOT EXPERIENCE A GREAT AMOUNT OF BORDER VIOLENCE, IT HAS
CROSSED OVER. IT HAS TOUCHED OUR COMMUNITIES.
AND THE BEST THING THAT WE CAN DO IS TAKE A STRONG STAND AND
SHOW THAT WE ACTUALLY HAVE THE WILL TO PREVAIL IN CERTAIN
AREAS. WHEN PEOPLE SAY THAT THIS IS TOO
HARSH ON KIDS, THAT THEY ARE JUST KIDS, 14 TO 17 AND 11
MONTHS AND 29 DAYS, RIGHT? THE REALITY IS THEY'RE IN A LOT
SAFER HANDS WITH ME THAN GETTING CROSSED BACK OVER RIGHT AWAY.
>> COCHISE COUNTY SHERIFF MARK DANNELS STANDS BEHIND THE COUNTY
ATTORNEY AND HAS TAKEN HEAT FOR IT.
>> I'VE BEEN HIT BY OUR JUDICIAL SIDE SAYING, SURE, THIS IS
WRONG. THINK ABOUT THIS JUST FOR A
MINUTE. THESE KIDS ARE SMUGGLING DRUGS.
THEY'RE NO DIFFERENT THAN ANYBODY ELSE.
THERE'S GOT TO BE CONSEQUENCES. BUT THEY'RE WORKING FOR THESE
TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, THE CARTELS, THAT IF THEY LOSE THAT
PRODUCT, THEY GO BACK AND WE HAVE PICTURES WHERE THEY'VE BEEN
BEAT AND ABUSED BECAUSE THEY LOST THE CARTEL'S PRODUCT.
SO IN OUR HANDS, A YEAR AND A HALF WE GET THEM.
THEY GET COUNSELING. THEY GET GOOD MEDICAL.
THEY GET EDUCATION. EVERYTHING THAT COMES WITH THAT.
AND HOPEFULLY BY THE TIME THEY GET OUT IN A YEAR AND A HALF,
THEY'RE IN A BETTER STATE OF MIND THAN THEY WERE WHEN THEY
WENT IN. SO HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A
SUCCESS STORY. >> JAILING TEENS COMES AS A
COST. DANIELS SAYS IT WAS WORTH IT.
>> IT'S A SERIOUS CRIME THAT THROUGHOUT THIS COUNTRY, THAT
IT'S A QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUE IN OUR COMMUNITIES, IN OUR RURAL
AREAS WHERE WHAT COMES INTO COCHISE COUNTY AND THE OTHER
BORDERS ALONG FROM TEXAS TO CALIFORNIA ARE GOING TO OUR
COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES.
AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE DOING THE RIGHT THING ON THAT.
IT'S A QUALITY OF LIFE THAT WE HAVE MANY CHALLENGES IN OUR
COMMUNITIES. SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE I CAN
STAND UP AS A SHERIFF BOTH AT A LOCAL LEVEL AND A NATIONAL LEVEL
AND SAY WE'RE DOING THE RIGHT THING WHEN IT COMES TO THIS.
>> FOR McINTYRE, IT'S ABOUT MORE THAN ENDING AN EPIDEMIC.
THIS IS YOUR COMMUNITY. I MEAN YOU'RE BORN AND RAISED IN
THIS BORDER COUNTY. IT'S IMPORTANT TO YOU THAT THESE
KIDS KNOW THAT WHATEVER THEY THINK THAT THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE
TO SETTLE WITH IN THEIR LIFESTYLE IS NOT, THAT THEY
COULD END UP LIKE YOU. >> OH, ABSOLUTELY.
I DON'T KNOW ENDING UP LIKE ME IS THE GREATEST THING IN THE
WORLD, BUT GROWING UP THE IDEA EVEN THAT SOMEONE WOULD GO TO
SCHOOL IN ANOTHER STATE OR IN ANOTHER COUNTRY WAS -- WAS KIND
OF FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. AND THERE'S UNFORTUNATELY FOR
SOME KIDS, A BELIEF THAT DOUGLAS IS ALL THAT IT EVER WILL BE.
BUT THE REALITY IS SO MUCH DIFFERENT.
EVERYTHING IN LIFE IS ABOUT WHAT YOU MAKE OF YOUR SKILLS, OF YOUR
EFFORTS, AND EVERYONE HAS THE ABILITY TO CONTRIBUTE.
YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT USUALLY I WIND UP TELLING THE
KIDS, BECAUSE WE'RE IN A ROOM DURING OUR EDUCATION PROGRAM,
EVERYONE IN THE ROOM HAS A GUN BESIDES ME.
AND I'LL CALL THEM OUT ON IT AND MENTION ALL THE GUNS.
AND THEN I'LL TAKE AND PULL MY PEN OUT.
AND I TELL THEM, THIS IS THE MOST POWERFUL INSTRUMENT IN THIS
ROOM RIGHT NOW. I CAN SIGN AN INDICTMENT, OR I
CAN SIGN A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION.
WHICH ONE DO YOU WANT IT TO BE?