CLAIM: Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said during Tuesday night's vice presidential debate that some immigrant children are being “used as mules for drug trafficking.”
Verdict: True. One law enforcement official explained to Vance at an event last month that when drug traffickers drive around, children are asked to play roles in “stories” in case authorities become involved.
Earlier in the debate, Mr. Vance said that some immigrant children are “used as mules for drug trafficking,” one of the many indirect fact-checks by the CBS News host that night. responded to Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) falsely claiming that Vance was lying.
Margaret Brennan asked Walz: “Governor, are you willing to respond to specific allegations that the vice president is administering fentanyl'' or “using children as drug mules?'' asked.
“Oh, well, the drug mule story isn't true,” Waltz insisted.
In fact, as Breitbart News reported, law enforcement officials told Vance in Georgia last month that drug traffickers often carry items like fishing rods in their cars with children when transporting drugs. He explained that children are used as decoys to be incorporated into false narratives. They also discussed drugs being sold disguised as candy to children.
Officials then explained to Vance that traffickers often use children as part of a “story” in cars to hide their trafficking operations. In one case, the children were given fishing rods to make it look like they were on vacation, and in another, they made it look like the family was on a vacation to nearby Disney World.
“When you think about what it takes to make a full-fledged drug that looks like candy for kids, I think something is wrong,” Vance says.
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Matthew Boyle/Breitbart News
On Tuesday night, Vance made the final statement in his rebuttal that children are being used as drug mules.
“I didn't accuse Kamala Harris of inviting drug traffickers. I said she allowed Mexican drug cartels to operate freely in this country, and that they were helping children. We know that they are using the drug mule as a drug mule, and it is shameful and it has to stop,” he said.
