Unwitting Drug Smuggler

Preventing drug smuggling is one of the most socially significant and noble missions of law enforcement agencies. Various departments are tasked with combating the illegal supply of banned substances. With varying degrees of success, authorities uncover supply channels, “death couriers,” and other criminals involved in this highly profitable business.

But today, we’re not talking about large “commercial” shipments of heroin or high-profile busts. Through your own carelessness or kindness, you risk being charged with drug smuggling as an ordinary tourist with a bag over your shoulder.

While vacationing in Cuba, Tibet, or Thailand, you might buy rum, tea, or weight loss pills that contain precursors to potent or narcotic substances. You might not even know this (or want to know/read the ingredients). Still, you could easily be charged under Article 226.1 or Article 229.1 of the Russian Criminal Code. In this simple way, you could create problems for yourself that are difficult to resolve, because you bought, brought, and tried to carry the items across the border yourself. But there are other dangers awaiting unsuspecting tourists.

How Tourists Get Involved Unknowingly

Dissolving cocaine in a bottle of rum isn’t difficult, nor is resealing the bottle to look factory-made. Increasingly, smugglers and ordinary drug users prefer to act through third parties—offering money, a dose, or other benefits—rather than taking the risk themselves. Laws are now much stricter regarding drug trafficking, so people are less willing to take unnecessary risks.

Although many border checkpoints are equipped with special booths that can detect hidden substances inside the body before a personal customs inspection, not everyone can be sent through them without cause.

In most cases involving small, one-time busts, drugs are found based on tips. Usually, officers are present at the time of detention, already knowing when the suspected “courier” will cross the border. This is a great result for law enforcement operations, isn’t it? Often, officers recruit several competing dealers and use the information they provide as part of their agreements.

But it’s one thing when another drug user or courier gets caught—everyone involved knows the risks. However, there are plenty of cases where ordinary citizens get involved without even realizing they’re carrying a few grams of illegal substances. The scheme is simple:

• A mustachioed man, a sweet old lady, a little boy, or a single mother approaches you and asks you to deliver a forgotten bag, a package of things (cigarettes, alcohol, etc.) to a relative, friend, coworker, or even a pet.
• They offer you money as a thank you for transporting it.
• You arrive back home (or leave your country).
• You’re met by a whole team of law enforcement officers (customs, police, canine units, etc.).
• SUDDENLY, they find enough illegal substances on you to press charges.
• They prepare materials to initiate a criminal case under Article 229.1 of the Russian Criminal Code.
• The diligent officers report that they’ve shut down a drug smuggling channel and done their job.

What to Do If You’re Caught Up

That’s all it takes. Most likely, you didn’t know what was really inside the “package,” and it wasn’t yours. In any case, without qualified legal help, you shouldn’t explain how you ended up with the package (you might say too much). It’s best if you didn’t touch the items containing the substances at all. It’s also possible that the whole thing was a controlled operation to boost statistics. That’s why you should remember and use Article 51 of the Russian Constitution (the right not to testify against yourself).

In the past, such cases were opened very easily, but recently, a ruling by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified that if a person was unaware they were committing smuggling, their actions are not criminally punishable. So, not all hope is lost, but you need to act very carefully.

How to Protect Yourself

To avoid getting into such a situation, never agree to carry packages, parcels, or envelopes for strangers (or even acquaintances). Also, don’t let unknown people ride in your car—someone could easily slip something under your floor mat, in your glove compartment, or in the ashtray.

Stay vigilant and protect yourself from becoming an unwitting drug smuggler.