Innocence Lost

It has not gone unnoticed that a large number of my well-to-do countrymen and women head north and flock to the Houston-area to hit the local malls.

Particularly the Galleria and its country bumpkin cousin, Katy Mills. Here is a shot of the world-famous Katy Mills carousel:

[Pic source: Kid Pop Houston]

They come from all over my native land, from México City to Monterrey. It is quite easy to spot them because,

1. They’re the only ‘weirdos’ who are walking the mall as a family
2. They’re the only Mexicans who aren’t all choloed up

Never in a million years would I have imagined that any of the niñas fresas buying overpriced clothes would ever attempt to smuggle blow on their way to the happy shopping grounds.

Yet, there is this story:
Smugglers turn to affluent women as drug ‘mulas’

Here is how the piece opens up:

Three striking sisters, women in their 20s from the Mexican metropolis of Monterrey, were riding in the back of a late-model minivan with friends toward the shopping malls of Houston, when a Laredo customs agent noticed something out of place.

Next time I hit the ‘Mills’, it will be difficult to look at my money-dropping paisanos without thinking of this story.

Oh, innocence lost!