Drug trafficker (also English. Mule - mule) - a person who smuggles drugs across the state border for a fee, under duress or as a result of fraud [1] . Smugglers use animals to reduce their own risks. Among the methods used are smuggling: hiding in a vehicle, baggage or clothes, tying bags to the body or putting them inside the human body [2] . Occasionally, drugs are hidden in things or in a car by people who are not aware of it ( blind mule ), although it is believed that this is only an option for legal defense of the accused [3] .
A common method of secretive drug transit across borders is its transportation in the bodies of drug couriers, including in the stomach and intestines , especially when using airlines and transporting the most expensive substances per unit mass (heroin, cocaine) [2] . Small packets (several grams) are formed, packed in airtight containers, such as condoms, which are then swallowed. The courier can carry up to dozens of such packages. If the package is torn or loses its tightness, the courier, as a rule, dies from an overdose of the drug [4] . After 2-3 days, the packets come out naturally with feces. If you need to quickly remove the packages, the courier is given a strong laxative.
Cash rewards to couriers usually do not exceed a few tenths of a percent of the cost of the lot (according to statistics from Mexico to the USA). On average, a courier receives a risk fee of about $ 250 for each year of a possible conclusion [5] .
Literature
- A definition of 'drug mules' for use in a European context // Lisbon: European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction - 2012 - 45 pp. ISBN 978-92-9168-498-4 (English)
- The Market for Mules: Risk and Compensation of Cross-Border Drug Couriers (link unavailable )
Notes
- ↑ A definition of 'drug mules' for use in a European context // Lisbon: European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction - 2012 - 45 pp. ISBN 978-92-9168-498-4 , page 3 “ A drug courier who is paid, coerced or tricked into transporting drugs across an international border but who has no further commercial interest in the drugs. "
- ↑ 1 2 RELP. Methods of smuggling narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances as an element of the criminalistic characteristics of this type of crime
- ↑ http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/criminal_justice_magazine/fa11_Mason.authcheckdam.pdf
- ↑ WHO EMRO | Ethics of medical care for body packers (drug smugglers): untangling a web of fears and conflicts of interest | Volume 17, issue 7 | EMHJ volume 17, 2011
- ↑ Archived copy (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment September 15, 2014. Archived on September 15, 2014.