Drug smuggling tends to conjure up images of marijuana, cocaine or other illegal substances. But near the Texas-Mexico border, smuggling has taken a new turn. Ordinary citizens are bringing in legal prescription drugs that are far cheaper to buy in Mexico than the U.S., mostly for Americans who are simply too afraid to travel there. From the Fronteras desk, Lorne Matalon reports.

 Photo courtesy of Flickr user 121 Dilaudid

Lorne Matalon is the Fronteras Desk reporter based in Marfa, Texas at MarfaPublic Radio. He began reporting from Latin America in 2007 where he was based in Mexico City for The World, a co-production of the BBC World Service, Public Radio International and NPR member station WGBH, Boston.Lorne is a contributor to National Geographic’s online news service, where he has filed from Panama, Mongolia and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. His articles and photographs have appeared in the Boston Globe, the San Diego Union-Tribune, La Recherche (Paris) and The World Today (London) a publication of the international affairs organization Chatham House. He has produced several television documentaries, among them Brazil: Amazon War, Sudan: Freedom for Sale and Guantanamo.