We Have Met the Smuggler and He is Us

We have met the drug smuggler and he is us.

More than 200K people travel from Mexico into San Diego each day. In 2023, 27K pounds of Fentanyl were seized at the border crossing. We hear that Mexican cartels are the ones flooding us with these drugs. But that’s not true. In reality, drug-trafficking crimes by undocumented immigrants have gone down. So who are the smugglers?

Data from Customs and Border Protection found that 86% of all people charged with fentanyl smuggling were U.S. citizens. Another study in Arizona found that figure to be 94%. Our fellow-American smugglers are a whole mixture of races. And a lot more women than before. The drug cartels target them because they travel regularly back and forth from Mexico and have no criminal record.

These people don’t fit the image of typical criminal smugglers. Many are desperate because of drug addiction, trauma, overwhelming medical bills, or huge college loans. Others just need some entertainment money.

Here’s another interesting statistic. Nearly half of those arrested hadn’t received a high school degree and less than 3% had a college degree. Does this mean they are primarily uneducated people? Not necessarily. The cartels are more and more using middle school and high school students as mules. The cartels advertise on social media that there are quick ways to earn money doing errands in Mexico. All the students have to do is strap drugs to their bodies or hide them in cars. And what do they get paid? A few hundred dollars or with the gift of a smart phone. The cartels tell them that they are minors and no drug charge can stick to their records. That’s untrue. A drug smuggling conviction stays with them unless they apply and are approved to have their records sealed.

Others are “blind mules.” The cartels target people who regularly work in Mexico. While they are in an office building, the smugglers hide drugs in spare tire compartments, behind bumpers or fenders, inside engine compartments, or inside gas tanks. They then attach trackers to the undersides of the cars. When the cars are safely parked in the U.S., the cartel people retrieve the drugs. The drivers never know that they were mules. Imagine an innocent business person at the border when a dog sniffs out the drugs hidden in their car. Or a student just coming to San Diego to study.

Which brings up the question of dogs. I asked my colleague, Kathleen Donnelly, who had a business with drug sniffing dogs, how effective dogs were in ferreting out drugs hidden in all the different parts of cars. Here’s what she said:

“So yes, those are all common ways that drugs are smuggled and there’s no way to cover it up for a dog’s nose. Not even vacuum sealed. One way to think about how a dog’s olfactory system works, (besides just having way better noses) is that they literally smell layers down to molecules which is why they can detect cancer in people before any tests. So an analogy is if we go into a pizza parlor, we smell pizza. But a dog smells every individual ingredient separately. So nothing can mask the smell. I think the cartels take the chance that they’ll get through in an area that doesn’t have a dog working. They take their odds. But if there is a drug dog working, they will be busted. Here’s a recent article with the K-9 work just in your area: https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/border-security/san-diego-border-patrol-seizes-major-drug-hauls-in-three-busts-last-week/”

(BTW, if you have’t read Kathleen’s mysteries featuring K9s you should go out and buy one immediately )

Mexicans are still involved in the trade. But instead of illegal immigrants or gang members, they are usually regular travelers to the U.S. with border-crossing cards. They could be working or studying here and come from stable, middle-class Mexican families. Maybe they need money for the loans they’ve taken on for college or for their living expenses.

Our good citizens also smuggle arms into Mexico. This has been going on ever since traders sold guns to Pancho Villa. People have been caught trying to enter Mexico with AK-47 rifles, magazines and rounds stashed under their cars’ hoods or floorboards. Not to mention all the U.S.-manufactured weapons they’ve purchased.

Do you know any drug smuggling stories? I’d love to hear them. Just reply to this email.