$1m for family of boy told to drink drug

THE family of a Mexican teenager who died after being told by police to drink from a bottle of liquid methamphetamine has been given $1 million (£802,000) in damages.

Cruz Marcelino Velazquez Acevedo, 16, arrived at the US border in November 2013, shaking with nerves and speaking quickly. He had no criminal record and is believed to have been paid around $150 to take the drug across the border.

When confronted by border police, he said the liquid was apple juice. They asked him to drink it to prove it was not harmful – and two hours later, screaming and convulsing, he died.

Eugene Iredale, lawyer for the Velazquez family, said the border officers acted recklessly.

“I don’t think they deliberately set out to kill the boy,” he said. “But they did, in telling him to drink it in order to prove to themselves – or have him prove to them – that it was in fact what he said it was, as opposed to a drug, which is what they suspected.” The officers had access to many test kits, said Mr Iredale, but those were not used.

Valerie Baird and Adrian Parellon, the officers named in the complaint, are still employed by US Customs and Border Protection in San Diego, the agency said. Mr Iredale cited testimony from another border officer, alleging that Ms Baird had told her: “Oh my God, I told him to drink it, I asked him what it was, he said it was juice, I said, ‘Well then, prove it’.”

Both the officers denied forcing or egging the teenager on to drink from the bottle – with each accusing the other of pressuring the young man.

The Mexican consulate in San Diego confirmed on Tuesday that a settlement had been reached in January.