Drones Are the New Drug Mules (vice.com) 34
An anonymous reader quotes a report from VICE News: Last week border officials in the Punjab region of India revealed they intercepted 107 drug-carrying drones sent by smuggling gangs last year over the border from Pakistan, the highest number on record. Most were carrying heroin or opium from Pakistan to be dropped and received by collaborators in the Punjab, notorious for having India's worst levels of opiate addiction. Last year the head of a police narcotics unit in Lahore, a city in Pakistan which borders the Punjab, was dismissed after he was suspected of running a drug trafficking gang sending drones over to India. But the use of cheap flying robots instead of humans to smuggle drugs across borders is a worldwide phenomenon. [...]
[D]rones will likely become an everyday part of drug dealing too, according to Peter Warren Singer, author of multiple books on national security and a Fellow at think tank New America, with legit medicines due to be delivered by drone in the U.S. later this year and maybe in the U.K. too. "We are just scraping the surface of what is possible, as drone deliveries become more and more common in the commercial world, it will be the same with delivery of illicit goods. In our book, Burn-In, we explain how a future city will see drones zipping about delivering everything from groceries and burritos to drugs, both prescribed by a doctor or bought off a dealer. Drones have traditionally been used by governments and corporations for what are known as the "3 D's" jobs that are too dull, dirty, or dangerous for humans. For criminals, it is the same, except add in another D: Dependable. A drone doesn't steal the product and can't be arrested or snitch if caught."
Liam O'Shea, senior research fellow for organized crime and policing at defense and security thinktank RUSI, said drones were at the moment of limited value to wholesale traffickers and organized criminal gangs because of their range and the weight they can carry. "It makes sense that smugglers would seek to use drones. They are cheap and easy to acquire. They also lower the risks involved in some transactions, as smugglers do not have to be physically present during transactions. They offer opportunities for smuggling in areas where previous routes were too risky, such as prisons and over securitized borders. "I expect them to be of greater value to smaller players and distributors dealing with smaller quantities. Wholesale drug traffickers will still need to use routes that facilitate smuggling at higher volume or using drones to make multiple trips, which entails risks of detection. That may well change as improvements in technology improve drones' carrying capacity and crime groups are better able to access drones with greater capacity."
[D]rones will likely become an everyday part of drug dealing too, according to Peter Warren Singer, author of multiple books on national security and a Fellow at think tank New America, with legit medicines due to be delivered by drone in the U.S. later this year and maybe in the U.K. too. "We are just scraping the surface of what is possible, as drone deliveries become more and more common in the commercial world, it will be the same with delivery of illicit goods. In our book, Burn-In, we explain how a future city will see drones zipping about delivering everything from groceries and burritos to drugs, both prescribed by a doctor or bought off a dealer. Drones have traditionally been used by governments and corporations for what are known as the "3 D's" jobs that are too dull, dirty, or dangerous for humans. For criminals, it is the same, except add in another D: Dependable. A drone doesn't steal the product and can't be arrested or snitch if caught."
Liam O'Shea, senior research fellow for organized crime and policing at defense and security thinktank RUSI, said drones were at the moment of limited value to wholesale traffickers and organized criminal gangs because of their range and the weight they can carry. "It makes sense that smugglers would seek to use drones. They are cheap and easy to acquire. They also lower the risks involved in some transactions, as smugglers do not have to be physically present during transactions. They offer opportunities for smuggling in areas where previous routes were too risky, such as prisons and over securitized borders. "I expect them to be of greater value to smaller players and distributors dealing with smaller quantities. Wholesale drug traffickers will still need to use routes that facilitate smuggling at higher volume or using drones to make multiple trips, which entails risks of detection. That may well change as improvements in technology improve drones' carrying capacity and crime groups are better able to access drones with greater capacity."
Key phrase (Score:3)
"In our book, Burn-In, ..."
In the end, this is all about publicity for someone's new book.
I expect drone delivery of drugs will be a growing problem. But 107 drones over the course of an entire year doesn't sound like it's a big part of the delivery network quite yet.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
In the US/Canada the governments have mandated Remote ID tracking of drones. Surely the feds can just track any "bad guy's" drone as long as they comply with these regulations. :)
https://www.faa.gov/uas/gettin... [faa.gov]
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In the US/Canada the governments have mandated Remote ID tracking of drones. Surely the feds can just track any "bad guy's" drone as long as they comply with these regulations. :)
Sure, so long as they don't buy the drones in Indonesia.
Drugs (Score:1)
The best way to destroy a society and make them irrelevant is to flood it with narcotics. If the US wanted to destroy North Korea they could engage in narco trafficking. See how long the regime would last. Of course it would be an evil move and the regime would get replace by some drug lords but they won't pose an external threat. I am not advocating it, but if there is anything that can bring down a big or small empire its drugs.
Re:Drugs (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Drugs (Score:4, Informative)
N Korea doesn't have a lot of things, but they do have a drugs trade. Supposedly meth is normalized to be like cigarettes, or something that makes a nice gift, and gets exported to China. This article might be out of date, and I certainly don't have any first-hand knowledge here, but it checks out.
https://www.insider.com/north-... [insider.com]
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You need something to keep the peasants working on six grains of rice.
Re: Drugs (Score:2)
The best way to destroy a society and make them irrelevant is to flood it with narcotics. If the US wanted to destroy North Korea they could engage in narco trafficking. See how long the regime would last. Of course it would be an evil move and the regime would get replace by some drug lords but they won't pose an external threat. I am not advocating it, but if there is anything that can bring down a big or small empire it's drugs.
Dude, please. To counter this, all NK needs is a strong leader, a real tough guy that doesn't worry about the political swamp to get things done, then a wall, with guns, land mines, and fricken lasers, and he needs to declare war on drugs and do marshal law, problem solved, drugs gone.
The real way to weaken a country and destroy society is manipulating its education system with alien mind control from the dark side of the moon and teaching children that a time in the past like the 1950s wasn't so great and
Re: Drugs (Score:2)
... they might turn into communists!
Detection (Score:2)
Re:Detection (Score:4, Interesting)
I can see two options for the smugglers here.
A low altitude flying drone which crosses the border using GPS navigation, drops small high value packages like fentanyl somewhere along it's flight plan, then returns home for fuel and another load. There's a lot of desert within 50 miles of the mexico border, and a drone flying 30 feet above the ground would get lost in the ground clutter on most radar systems.
The second option is a ground drone based on something like the Argo Frontier (https://argoxtv.com/intl/vehicles/frontier). This would need several changes to reduce the IR signature, add camouflage, and make it obscure its own tracks. But this could deliver hundreds of kg within 100 miles of the border.
The ground drone would be cheaper and could be built using off the shelf components, so I assume that has already been done. Detection would probably require a light aircraft with an infrared camera looking for the thermal signature at night. Low flying drones are much more difficult to build and have a limited payload but they are harder to detect and stop.
It would be interesting to hear what the CBP have actually found out in the desert.
thanks for the info (Score:2)
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I lived in the San Diego area years ago, and this was a news story then (~2019). The "wall" (more like 2 chain link fences 20-30 ft apart, it seemed from the news video) allowed cartels to just send a remote control truck from one side to the other. But new "detection" mechanisms were touted during a Trump visit. Then the story was just using flying drones to go over the "wall," and avoiding the detection countermeasures.
-bZj
You mean they weren't already? (Score:2)
I am honestly surprised this is apparently a new thing.
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it isn't. it was a meme during lockdown, but it has been going on for years even for border crossing, both by sea and air. there are numerous examples all over youtube. apparently vice just found out yesterday, they like it smooth and slow.
now, stay tuned for /.'s duplicate tomorrow!
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now, stay tuned for /.'s duplicate tomorrow!
Will it be delivered by drone?
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How dehumanizing! We prefer the term "editor" around these places.
Old news (Score:2)
Bullshit (Score:3)
If dealers use drones in urban areas, they're gonna get busted pretty easily.
Re: Bullshit (Score:2)
Fluffy bunny, drug mules do not deliver to your doorstep. They're for getting across a border
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How sad (Score:2)
And again, technology eliminated the jobs of people who couldn't do anything else because they're not qualified enough or have the potential to be qualified for anything else.
Old technology (Score:2)
I remember reading a story a while back about smuggling in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region which had been automated in a more primitive manner. The smugglers used real mules that were familiar with the routes across the border and they'd fit a Sony Walkman with an endless tape to the animal's harness. The tape played "keep moving" and "hurry up" in the local dialect and the mule would follow the usual path without needing to be accompanied.
Nothing new (Score:1)