Submitted by: Meerston Langdon

Drug smuggling operations can rely on willing or unwilling couriers. In either case, the transport possibilities are seemingly limitless. Cartels and small-time transporters alike are driven by the high profitability of the drug trade and they will go to any length necessary to accomplish their goals. Here are some of the most widely-used methods of drug transport.

-Willing Couriers-

People willingly transport drugs from one country to another every day. Their methods range from the very simple to the ingeniously complex, and they often depend on the sophistication of the relevant law enforcement agencies. Here are three of the most common techniques.

1. Personal Concealment

Drug smugglers have developed various ways to carry conceal and carry drugs on their persons. For example, women couriers will often replace bra padding with cocaine or other powdered substances. People may replace shoe soles and jacket padding in the same way. Morbidly obese smugglers have also been known to hide packages under fat rolls a technique which can even evade thorough pat-down searches. Finally, some smuggling operations exploit children as couriers, hoping law enforcement officials will pass them over as they conduct searches.

2. Human and Animal Orifices

Another common technique drug smugglers use is to hide drugs in balloons, condoms, or other small rubber packages. They then use lubricant to swallow these packages and later take laxatives to retrieve them. In some cases, they will also sew these packages under the skins of animals. This allows extra opportunities for smuggling and prevents humans from taking the risks of ruptured balloons. Overall, these methods allow couriers to evade sniffing dogs, frisks, and other property searches that would uncover personally-concealed drugs.

3. Inside Personal Effects

When couriers transport drugs internationally, they often use unsuspicious travel-related objects to ship larger amounts and increase their profits. For instance, they might create hidden compartments within their luggage for hiding small packages of drugs. They might also use baby bottles, water bottles, canteens, windshield wiper fluid tanks, and other liquid storage devices to cunningly conceal heroin or other powders.

Cartels and other large operations use highly-sophisticated methods, as well. They may create pieces of furniture out of cocaine or soak pieces of fabric in liquidized heroin. They have even been known to use small planes, ships, and submarines to sneak into areas that cars can t access. These methods require far more resources than simpler techniques, but they allow very large shipments to be made reliably.

-Unwilling Couriers-

Smugglers often take advantage of unwilling participants to reduce their changes of arrest. They may use legitimate postal services to ship drugs internationally without having to leave their own countries. They also place their cargo onto legal shipping vessels which are already set for international trips. These methods are particularly profitable, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that the profit margins for international drug trafficking range from 300 to 2,000 percent. The following are the most common ways drug smugglers use unwilling couriers.

1. Public Transit

Many regions of the world have international bus and subway lines. Rather than risking arrest by carrying drugs on their persons, smugglers often board these transit lines and hide their cargo in a public area. They can easily remove the drugs once they reach their destinations, but they can easily deny their crimes if law enforcement searches the vehicles.

A more involved approach utilizes cruise ships. Cartels sometimes hide their shipments in the hulls of these massive vessels, and hired divers will carefully retrieve them after docking.

Finally, smugglers often take advantage of the civilians using public transport. They plant their packages on people or their cargo and retrieve it once they crossed borders. They also use this method at airports, where they will bribe cargo handlers into placing drugs into specific bags.

2. Legitimate Postal Services

So many letters and packages are sent every day that it is impossible for law enforcement to inspect even a small fraction of them. Smugglers take advantage of this by shipping drugs with legitimate mail services. They often use express delivery because the increased pressure for quick delivery means even fewer packages get checked.

3. Shipping and Freight Companies

Legitimate shipping operations by truck, ship, and airplane give smugglers a nearly endless list of options for drug trafficking. They often just pack their shipments into normal containers aboard these vehicles. If they are worried about law enforcement searches, they can easily conceal drugs inside almost any product packaging. Pet food bags, toy boxes, and teddy bears have all been used to ship drugs internationally.

Despite vigilant law enforcement efforts and international government cooperation, smugglers continue to expand their operations. So long as people around the world demand drugs, there will be people willing to break the law to sell them.

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About the Author: Meerston is a gifted writer who has done little else her entire life. As a child she won numerous awards for her poetry and fiction. As an adult she has made a living as one of the most sought-after freelance writers in the U.S.Click here for a confidential consultation from an expert at our

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