'Blind Mules' Unknowingly Ferry Drugs Across The U.S.-Mexico Border

(CNN) -- Every weekday, Juan Andres drives across the U.S.-Mexico border from his home in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to the University of Texas at El Paso.

The three-and-a-half-mile commute takes him a world away from a major flashpoint in Mexico's drug cartel war, away from a city with one of the world's highest murder rates.

Andres, who agreed to speak to CNN under the condition that his name was changed, has always been keenly aware of his and his family's safety while living in Juarez.

"The city was already pretty dangerous. We tried not to go to restaurants and things like that where [kidnappings] could happen," he said.

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