Known as mules, they transport drugs from one country to another by increasingly ingenious and varied methods: in compartments hidden in suitcases, in shoes or clothing, and even inside their own bodies.

These are people who ingest capsules with drugs , usually cocaine or heroin, inside latex gloves, condoms, to prevent normal digestive processes from ruining the goods. The mission consists of ingesting the capsules, transporting them from one country to another, expelling them, cleaning them and handing them over to another member of the drug organization who is in charge of receiving them.

In this traffic mode we will stop in this article.

Mules: who are the chosen ones?

In general, when recruiting mules, drug traffickers look for people with very low resources and poverty , in situations of great vulnerability, marginality, desperation and lack of perception of opportunities to get ahead, among other factors.

By agreeing to transport drugs they become criminals as well as victims of criminal organisations that abuse the conditions in which people who access this type of activity live.They are given the assurance that it is not a dangerous activity and that it is all fixed. They deceive them and promise conditions of safety that are then not fulfilled.

And they don’t always agree voluntarily. Often they are tricked, extorted into doing the job, forced to carry the drugs by force and under threat to themselves or their family. In other cases they are victims of human trafficking networks.

A not less important fact is that airport security has a body scanner that detects the capsules inside the body, so it is not a coincidence that many of the mules are pregnant women , who cannot be subjected to X-rays, making it more difficult for them to be stopped. They are like a perfect “package”, although the weakest and most physically compromised.

Lack of risk awareness

The decision to be a mule is usually gestated in the combination of a vulnerable situation of desperation and hopelessness and a false conception that this is an activity that will easily generate money. It is perceived as a possible opportunity and means of livelihood.

But this really easy “job” has nothing: implies first of all risks in the health of the person (intoxication, intestinal obstruction, peritonitis and if a capsule breaks, it is very likely that its transporter will die) and exposes him to commit a crime punishable by prison for possession and trafficking of drugs. This will depend on the country where the mules are discovered.

There are countries in which the sentences reach up to 12 years in prison , depending on the quantities trafficked and whether or not there is collaboration in the arrest and subsequent investigation. In other countries, such as China and Indonesia, the penalties faced by drug trafficking mules can range from life imprisonment to the death penalty.

In the case of Argentina, and according to the report “Incarcerations for drug-related crimes in Argentina”, 7 out of 10 foreign women prisoners are detained after having acted as mules. The vast majority of women prisoners are mothers and have small children, in situations of vulnerability, helplessness and both emotional and economic deprivation.

Disposable containers

Two months ago, a 19-year-old girl was found dead on a downtown street in Buenos Aires after two capsules of cocaine (out of 80) exploded inside her stomach.

According to witnesses in the case, the young woman was thrown out of a vehicle, so it is believed that other people involved in the network, faced with her death, simply dismissed her. A container that is no longer useful must be thrown away. Mules are no longer human beings for the narcos , they are a necessary object in the chain of operations but replaceable.

Many links in the drug chain

When this works and the drug is brought to the desired point, it is thanks to a whole network of accomplices, ranging from who gets and stores the product, who recruits, who transports, who delivers the substance, who facilitates the procedures to make the trip, who receives the goods, and some corrupt and necessary arrangement with security personnel at the airport or border.

Both mules and vendors commit crimes for which they are tried and imprisoned, yet they are replaceable means by other pairs . Therefore, their detention barely touches the powerful narcos who, free and preserved, will continue negotiating with the health and lives of the people.

For the drug dealer, each mule is an object that stores his valuable merchandise, his life is not important, it is only relevant that the capsules arrive at their destination and without the least economic loss.It is a multi-million dollar business that plays with life and death.

Bibliographic references:

  • Corda, A. (2011). Imprisonments for drug-related crimes in Argentina .
  • The drug trade, prisons and “timely reforms”: the sentences of the Minister of Justice , published in lanueva.com and consulted on 09/08/2017
  • The majority of foreign female prisoners are “mules” , available at http://www.lavoz.com.ar/sucesos/las-mayorias-de-las-extranjeras-presas-son-mulas and accessed on 08/09/2017