Houston Police bust unexpected underage drinkers at the Houston Rodeo during spring break.

Year after year the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo attracts hundreds of thousands of people and for most it’s not their first time. Sandra Burton, 40-year-old Houstonian, has been to the rodeo more times than she can count.

“I’ve lived in Houston my whole life,” Burton said, “and I’ve been coming to the rodeo for as long as I can remember, sometimes a few times a year, and now I even bring my kids.”

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo brings people of all ages and all different walks of life. Spring Break is one of the rodeo’s biggest weeks and attracts all ages of students including college kids who come to town to see old friends from home and have a few drinks. This spring break was no exception with concerts like Eli Young Band and Brad Paisley.

Spring break at the rodeo also means a heightened alert for the Houston Police Department. More students mean more concern for underage drinking. Police officer JK Burton said this year was one of the worst he’s seen in awhile.

“In the past two nights I’ve been out here, I’ve personally busted 17 underage drinkers, and a few of those were taken to jail.” Burton said.

So where did these kids get alcohol? Burton couldn’t say, but with alcohol venders at every corner selling $8.00 beers and $12.00 margaritas there’s plenty of suspicion. Bags and purses were checked at the gate to prohibit any outside food or beverage coming in.

Randy Lim, a 22 year old junior from University of Texas at Austin, was almost one of Burton’s unexpected victims. Lim met a girl early on at the carnival and naturally offered to buy her a drink.

“One of my buddies is dating her friend and all the girls she was with were 21, so I assumed she was too,” Lim said. “I offered to buy her a beer and she took it. I had no clue she was only 19 or I wouldn’t have bought it for her.”

Officer Burton confronted Lim and the underage girl as soon as he handed her the beer. He asked for her ID and the embarrassed 19 year old immediately started crying.

“I didn’t even know what was happening when she started crying, then the officer came up to me and asked if I’d bought the beer,” Lim said, “Then I knew what was happening.”

Burton only gave him a warning, but wrote the crying young girl a ticket. A Minor In Consumption ticket can leave you a hefty fine and a suspended license, but a ticket for providing for minors can put you in jail. Lim got away lucky, and said he’ll definitely be more careful with who he offers a drink to next time.

Laurin Hoffpauir wasn’t so lucky. She used a fake ID to buy several beers while inside the rodeo. It wasn’t until her and her friends got back outside to the carnival that she got busted with her own MIP ticket. Burton got two for one when he found the girls.

“I’ve been using my fake for like two years and never got caught,” the 20 year old from Houston said, “I’m only a few months away from 21 so it sucks that I got caught now.”

Two of her friends also got MIPs at the same time, one of whom also had a fake ID. The girls used the fake IDs to buy their third friend a margarita. The IDs were taken away, and they left right after that.

There are consequences for underage drinking, and the rules are being strictly enforced at the rodeo.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will continue to run until the last weekend of March, ending with Justin Bieber.