Starting this weekend, state agents will be out in force along Interstate 35 and beyond, making sure minor don’t buy alcohol during spring break. 

This is the second sting operation of its kind by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, but this year, agents are using grant money to expand their enforcement areas.  From Dallas to the Gulf Coast, state and local police will be hitting businesses selling alcohol, making sure they don’t sell booze to minors.

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Beginning Sunday, TABC Sunday will conduct a statewide sting on stores that sell alcohol to minors.

Kevin Lindell, the co-owner of Lindell Chevron and Automotive, can tell when minors are trying to buy beer.

“If we see outside where they're exchanging money, maybe trying to get somebody to buy it for them, we watch for outdoor activity,” he says.  “A big thing is if they're looking in the cooler and they kind of don't know what they want.  That's a clue that they may not be old enough, or if they're real nervous and looking around the store.  That's the kind of things we look for.”

Starting Sunday, TABC agents will be working sting operations in more than 22 counties in Texas.  Agents will send a minor who’s 18 or younger into a business to buy beer or alcohol.  The minor has to present their real ID if asked.  If the clerk sells to the minor, they go to jail.

“Anywhere from 17-18% will sell to the minors, so there’s a tremendous number that don’t sell to minors,” said David Ferrero, with TABC. 

The stings will happen along I-35, north of Dallas to Padre Island; I-45, north of Houston and Highway 59; and Highway 37 from San Antonio to the coast.

The excessive partying is what agents and police are bent on trying to curb.  Young people from all over the country are heading to the Texas coast to party over the next few weeks.

“Get the word out to the kids that are going down there that we're going to be there,” said Ferrero.  “We want them to have a fun time, but we also want them to have a safe time.”

Although local schools don’t have spring break until next week, that’s not the case for every school in Texas, which is why agents are starting the sting operation this Sunday for the next three weeks. 

Selling alcohol to a minor is a Class A misdemeanor that could mean up to a year in jail.