MORE 'MULES' NOW CARRYING DRUGS

Traffickers Are Using More And More Human 'Mules' To Transport Drugs

BOGOTA - While news that drug traffickers used puppies to transport
drugs was shocking, the number of human "mules" may be rising,
according to statistics from the Colombian police and an analyst at
the University of Miami.

Traffickers have long employed creative methods for transporting
drugs. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration revealed
recently that a heroin ring used dogs to ship its product to the United States.

But Colombian police said it had captured 143 "mules" in 2004 and 189
in 2005, suggesting the increased reliance of traffickers on humans
to transport their drugs. All of these "mules" were trafficking drugs
inside their bodies.

According to the DEA, Colombian authorities captured an average of
198 people in Colombia between 2002 and 2004 with drugs inside their
stomachs, taped to their bodies, or lined to their luggage or clothes.

Reliable statistics are hard to find, but Professor Bruce Bagley of
the University of Miami, who has been following drug trafficking
trends for years, says that heroin traffickers use human "mules" to
send about half of their product to the United States. He estimates
that between 12 and 15 "mules" travel to the United States per month
with heroin.

"I think human mules are coming back into fashion in part because the
heroin trade implies reduced volume for increased profit," he said.

Heroin, which comes from opium poppy plant, is trafficked as a powder
and is consumed in smaller doses.

Bagley believes that between 20 and 25 percent of all cocaine may be
trafficked via "mules," a smaller amount than heroin because of the
volumes involved.

"Mules" are a cheap and efficient means to send drugs. Traffickers
often take advantage of cash strapped families, abandoned mothers,
or, as was illustrated in the movie Maria Full of Grace, naive
teenagers and young adults.

"Mules" who are captured face long jail sentences due to mandatory
minimum sentences imposed in the United States. They also expose
themselves to life-threatening complications if the containers with
the drugs rupture inside their bodies. "Human traffickers are cost
efficient and disposable," Bagley said.

Traffickers also employ Ecuadoreans, Haitians, and Jamaicans, among
others, to ship their product abroad, Bagley said. He added that
traffickers often coerce people into trafficking the drugs, but the
majority of "mules" do the work for money.

Colombia is the world's leading exporter of cocaine and the leading
supplier of heroin to the eastern seaboard of the United States,
according to the DEA.