![Bodypacks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Bodypacks.jpg)
A mule or courier is someone who personally
smuggles contraband
Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...
across a border (as opposed to sending by mail, etc.) for a
smuggling organization Smuggling is a behavior that has occurred ever since there were laws or a moral code that tax or forbid access to a specific person or object. At the core of any smuggling organization is the economic relationship between supply and demand. From the ...
. The organizers employ mules to reduce the risk of getting caught themselves. Methods of smuggling include hiding the goods in vehicles or carried items, attaching them to one's
body
Body may refer to:
In science
* Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space
* Body (biology), the physical material of an organism
* Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...
, or using the body as a container.
In the case of
transporting illegal drugs, the term drug mule applies. Other slang terms include
Kinder Surprise
Kinder Surprise (Italian: ''Kinder Sorpresa'' or ''Ovetto Kinder''), also known as Kinder Egg or Kinder Surprise Egg, is a milk chocolate consisting of a chocolate egg surrounding a yellow plastic capsule with a small toy inside. Manufactured by t ...
and
Easter Egg
Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...
. Small-scale operations, in which one courier carries one piece or a very small quantity, are sometimes called the ant trade.
Techniques
Concealment
Methods of smuggling include hiding the goods in a large vehicle,
[ luggage, or clothes.] In a vehicle, the contraband is hidden in secret compartments.[
Sometimes the goods are hidden in the bag or vehicle of an innocent person, who does not know about the contraband, for the purpose of retrieving the goods elsewhere.
Some contraband is legal to possess but is subject to ]taxes
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or ...
or other import restrictions, such as second-hand clothes and computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
s, and the purpose of the smuggling is to get around these restrictions. In this case, smuggling may be done in plain sight, in smaller quantities, so that a suitcase full of used clothes or a new computer can be passed off as a personal possession rather than an importing business.
Body packing
The practice of transporting goods outside or inside of the body is called body packing. This is done by a person usually called a mule or bait. The contraband is attached to the outside of the body using adhesive tape, glue
Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation.
The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...
, or straps
A strap, sometimes also called strop, is an elongated flap or ribbon, usually of leather or other flexible materials.
Thin straps are used as part of clothing or baggage, or bedding such as a sleeping bag. See for example spaghetti strap, sho ...
, often in such places as between the cheeks of the buttocks or between rolls of fat. Other inconspicuous places, like the soles of cut out shoes, inside belts, or the rim of a hat, were used more often prior to the early 1990s. Due to increased airport security the "body packing" method is rarely used any more.
Some narcotics-trafficking organizations, such as the Mexican cartels, will purposely send one or two people with drugs on the outside of their body to purposely be caught, so that the authorities are preoccupied while dozens of mules pass by undetected with drugs inside their body. However, even these diversionary tactics are becoming less prevalent as airport security increases.
Swallowing
This is often done using a mule's gastrointestinal tract
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organ (biology), organs of the digestive syste ...
or other body cavities
A body cavity is any space or compartment, or potential space, in an animal body. Cavities accommodate organs and other structures; cavities as potential spaces contain fluid.
The two largest human body cavities are the ventral body cavity, and ...
as containers. Swallowing has been used for the transportation of heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
,[ ]cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
,[ and MDMA/Ecstasy. A swallower typically fills tiny balloons with small quantities of a drug. The balloons may be made with multilayered ]condom
A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...
s, fingers of latex gloves,[ or more sophisticated hollow pellets. One smuggling method involves swallowing the balloons, which are recovered later from the excreted ]feces
Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
. Alternatively, the balloons may be hidden in other natural or artificial body cavities – such as rectum
The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in humans and some other mammals, and the Gastrointestinal tract, gut in others. The adult human rectum is about long, and begins at the rectosigmoid junction (the end of the s ...
, colostomy
A colostomy is an opening ( stoma) in the large intestine (colon), or the surgical procedure that creates one. The opening is formed by drawing the healthy end of the colon through an incision in the anterior abdominal wall and suturing it int ...
, vagina, and mouth – although this method is far more vulnerable to body cavity search
A body cavity search, also known simply as a cavity search, is either a visual search or a manual internal inspection of body cavities for prohibited materials (contraband), such as illegal drugs, money, jewelry, or weapons. Body cavities frequen ...
es. A drug mule may swallow dozens upon dozens of balloons.[ The swallower then attempts to cross international borders, excrete the balloons, and sell the drugs.
It is most common for the swallower to be making the trip on behalf of a ]drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...
or drug dealer. Swallowers are often impoverished and agree to transport the drugs in exchange for money or other favors. In fewer cases, the drug dealers can attempt extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
against people by threatening physical harm against friends or family, but the more common practice is for swallowers to willingly accept the job in exchange for big payoffs. As reported in ''Lost Rights'' by James Bovard
James Bovard (; born 1956) is an American libertarian author and lecturer whose political commentary targets examples of waste, failures, corruption, cronyism and abuses of power in government. He is a ''USA Today'' columnist and is a frequent c ...
: "Nigerian drug lords have employed an army of 'swallowers', those who will swallow as many as 150 balloons and smuggle drugs into the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Given the per capita
''Per capita'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "by heads" or "for each head", and idiomatically used to mean "per person". The term is used in a wide variety of social sciences and statistical research contexts, including government statistic ...
yearly income of Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
is $2,100, Nigerians can collect as much as $15,000 per trip." Swallowers have been apprehended from a variety of age groups, including adults, teens, and children.
Detection and medical treatment
Routine detection of the smuggled packets is extremely difficult, and many cases come to light because a packet has ruptured or because of intestinal obstruction. Unruptured packets may sometimes be detected by rectal or vaginal examination, but the only reliable way is by X-ray of the abdomen. Hashish appears denser than stool, cocaine is approximately the same density as stool, while heroin looks like air.
An increasingly popular type of swallowing involves having the drug in the form of liquid-filled balloons or condoms/packages. These are impossible to detect unless the airport has high-sensitivity X-Ray equipment, as a liquid mixture of water and the drug will most likely not be detected using a standard X-Ray machine. Most of the major airports in Europe, Canada, and the US have the more sensitive machines.
In most cases, it is only necessary to wait for the packets to pass normally, but if a packet ruptures or if there is intestinal obstruction, then it may be necessary to operate and surgically remove the packets. Oil-based laxatives should never be used, as they can weaken the latex of condoms and cause packets to rupture. Emetics
Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose.
Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis ...
like syrup of ipecac
Syrup of ipecac (), or simply ipecac, is a drug that was once widely used as an expectorant (in low doses) and a rapid-acting emetic (in higher doses). It is obtained from the dried rhizome and roots of the ipecacuanha plant (''Carapichea ipecac ...
, enemas
An enema, also known as a clyster, is an injection of fluid into the lower bowel by way of the rectum.Cullingworth, ''A Manual of Nursing, Medical and Surgical'':155 The word enema can also refer to the liquid injected, as well as to a device ...
, and endoscopic retrieval all carry a risk of packet rupture and should not be used. Repeat imaging is only necessary if the mule does not know the packet count.
Ruptured packets can be fatal and often require treatment as for a drug overdose and may require admission to an intensive care unit. Body packers are not always reliable sources of information about the contents of the packages (either because of fears about information being passed on to law enforcement agencies or because the mule genuinely does not know). Urine toxicology may be necessary to determine what drugs are being carried and what antidotes are needed.
International incidents
China
Some mobile phones and electronics are available for less in Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, one of China's Special Administrative Regions where the tax laws are relaxed. Mules employed by smugglers have been found with devices strapped to their bodies in an effort to smuggle them across the border from Hong Kong to Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
. According to Customs Law of China and Smuggling Penalties, a person shall be subject to a criminal charge if found smuggling small quantities of goods three times in one year. The maximum jail sentence is three years.
United States
The U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
dealt with body packing in ''United States v. Montoya De Hernandez
''United States v. Montoya De Hernandez'', 473 U.S. 531 (1985), was a U.S. Supreme Court case regarding the Fourth Amendment's border search exception and balloon swallowing.
Background
Rose Elvira Montoya de Hernandez entered the United States ...
''. In ''Hernandez'', a woman attempted to smuggle 88 balloons of cocaine in her gastrointestinal tract. She had been detained for over 16 hours by customs inspectors before she finally passed some of the balloons. She was being held because her abdomen
The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. ...
was noticeably swollen (she claimed to be pregnant
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Pregnancy usually occur ...
), and a search of her body had revealed that she was wearing two pairs of elastic underpants and had lined her crotch area with paper towels. This is done because balloon swallowing makes bowel movement
Defecation (or defaecation) follows digestion, and is a necessary process by which organisms eliminate a solid, semisolid, or liquid waste material known as feces from the digestive tract via the anus. The act has a variety of names ranging fro ...
s difficult to control. The woman claimed her Fourth Amendment rights had been violated, but the court found in favor of the border authorities.
With regard to traffic from South America to the US, the US Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...
reports: "Unlike cocaine, heroin is often smuggled by people who swallow large numbers of small capsules (50–90), allowing them to transport up to 1.5 kilograms of heroin.
United Kingdom
In 2003, over 50% of foreign female prisoners in UK jails were drug mules from Jamaica. Nigerian women make a large contribution to the remaining figure.
In all, around 18% of the UK's female jail population are foreigners, 60% of whom are serving sentences for drug-related offences – most of them drug mules.
See also
*Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...
*Illegal drug trade in Colombia
The illegal drug trade in Colombia has, since the 1970s, centered successively on four major drug trafficking cartels: Medellín, Cali, Norte del Valle, and North Coast, as well as several ''bandas criminales'', or BACRIMs. The trade eventua ...
*Money mule
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
*U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...
(ICE)
*United States Border Patrol
The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States' U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs and Border Protection and is responsible for securing ...
*War on Drugs
The war on drugs is a Globalization, global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of prohibition of drugs, drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the Unite ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mule (Smuggling)
Illegal occupations
Smuggling
Drug control law
Illegal drug trade techniques