Police to set up border checkpoints on graduation night

Traffic checkpoints will be in place in two locations in San Luis, Ariz., Friday night as law enforcement officers try to keep drunken drivers off the streets and unaccompanied minors out of Mexico.
 
San Luis and Somerton police, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Yuma County probation officers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are joining to set up the checkpoints in anticipation that some Yuma-area teens to go to San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., to celebrate graduations tonight from area high schools.
 
“The intent of the selective enforcement effort will be to target underage drinking and to ensure the safety of our students; to increase awareness of the dangers associated with drinking and driving,” San Luis Police Capt. Javier Nuno said in a news release.
 
The first checkpoint is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. at Urtuzuastegui and Main Streets to stop unaccompanied minors from going to Mexico, San Luis police said.
 
A state law prohibits youths under 18 from going to Mexico unaccompanied by an adult, and a San Luis curfew ordinance prohibits unaccompanied minors from being on the street after 10 p.m.
 
The second checkpoint is scheduled to begin at 2 a.m. Saturday at Urtuzuastegui and 1st Avenue to monitor pedestrians and vehicle traffic returning from Mexico. Officers will be looking not only for unaccompanied minors, but drunken drivers.
 
The operation will go until 6 a.m. Saturday, San Luis police said.
 
Mexican police officers in San Luis Rio Colorado also will be watching for unaccompanied minors, underage drinkers and drunken drivers, San Luis police said.
 
The legal drinking age in Mexico is 18, three years younger than in Arizona.
 
“We encourage people to use good judgment while celebrating this weekend’s graduation,” said Nuño. “I expect everybody to have a good time and be happy for their accomplishment, but remember to do things responsibly.”