Parents use 19-month-old to smuggle meth at Mexican border, feds say

U.S. border authorities say two parents used their 19-month-old child to smuggle in methamphetamine into the country.

At the Gateway International Bridge near Brownsville, Texas, the Houston Chronicle reports Orlando Ramirez and Cynthia Uresti were arrested Thursday by authorities.

Officials discovered 7 pounds of methamphetamine on both Uresti and the child, the Chronicle cites in a document filed by the Homeland Security Investigations.

According to the 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary, most of the methamphetamine in the country is smuggled from Mexico across the southwest border. It also reports that the availability of the drug in the United States continues to rise.

Domestic labs can produce methamphetamine but mostly on a smaller scale because of the availability of ingredients. High doses from methamphetamine can result in death, stroke, heart attack or multiple organ problems, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In 2014, authorities in Dallas seized about 275 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, concealed in heavy-duty latex balloons.

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This story was originally published August 7, 2016 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Parents use 19-month-old to smuggle meth at Mexican border, feds say."