Pubdate: Sun, 12 Nov 2000 Source: El Paso Times (TX) Copyright: 2000 El Paso Times Contact: P.O.Box 20, El Paso, Texas 79999 Fax: (915) 546-6415 Website: http://www.borderlandnews.com/ Author: Diana Washington Valdez TEENS UNITE AGAINST DRUG DEALERS What: Conference on "Young Frontier: New Millennium Challenges Faced by Teen-agers Along the Borderline." Event seeks to raise awareness among youths about the risks of drug smuggling. When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday. Where: Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso (Monday); University Cultural Center/Autonomous University of Juarez (UACJ). Admission: The event is free and open to the public. Area youths are encouraged to attend. Hundreds of El Paso and Juarez teens plan to join hands across the Bridge of the Americas on Monday to symbolize their unity against the exploitation of border youths by drug dealers. The event is part of a two-day conference Monday and Tuesday in El Paso and Juarez designed to raise awareness among youths about the risks of drug smuggling. "The idea for the conference arose from concerns voiced at bilateral meetings over the growing number of youths that drug-traffickers were recruiting to smuggle drugs across the border," said Antonio Meza, the Mexican consul in El Paso. The U.S. consul in Juarez and members of law enforcement from both sides of the border took part in those discussions, said Meza, who spearheaded efforts for the conference called "Young Frontier: New Millennium Challenges Faced by Teen-agers Along the Borderline." Law enforcement officials reported that 63 juveniles younger than 16 were arrested in El Paso for drug-trafficking in 1997. In 1999, the figure rose to 148. Along the U.S.-Mexican border, about 720 youths were arrested on drug-smuggling charges in 1997, compared with 500 in the rest of the nation, according to news accounts. This week, Juarez police reported that a 15-year-old El Paso teen and a 17-year-old Juarez companion were shot to death Tuesday night in Juarez by alleged drug dealers. Authorities said they were shot in a dispute over $250 worth of cocaine. Details were not available. Up to now, most of the drug-related shootings in Juarez have involved adults. Conference organizers note that 25 percent of the El Paso-Juarez population is 18 years old or younger and that one in three residents is younger than 30. Featured conference guests will include District Attorney Jaime Esparza, County Attorney Jose Rodriguez, U.S. Consul Edward Vazquez, El Paso Mayor Carlos Ramirez, Juarez Mayor Gustavo Elizondo and Las Cruces Mayor Ruben Smith. Scholars, social researchers and representatives of nongovernmental organizations will make special presentations, along with area high school students. Among the experts expected at the conference are Guillermo Velasco, president of Mexico United Against Delinquency, and Lorenzo Gomez Morin, welfare and education minister. Representatives of the El Paso Police Department, Juarez Municipal Police and the Catholic dioceses of both cities will take part in a Tuesday panel titled "Young Frontier at Risk, Addictions and Responsibilities of the Family. Ricardo Rocha, a prominent Mexican journalist, will moderate a panel of border journalists on the role of the news media in preventing drug abuse. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry F