The clandestine world of illegal drug manufacturing and drug smuggling is no stranger to technological advances. The massive cartels and criminal enterprises that net billions every year have powerful incentives and virtually limitless resources to keep the drugs flowing. Drug trafficking is a business worth more than $320 billion globally, according to INTERPOL. 

This article takes a look at how technology is changing the world of illegal drugs and drug trafficking. 

How Technology is Changing Drug Smuggling

Drug smuggling, like smuggling any other black market or contraband cargo into the country, has always been a matter of staying one step ahead of the authorities. Drug smugglers have always made creative use of technology where they can. South American drug cartels were building submarines as early as the 1980s, for example, in an attempt to evade the Coast Guard when bringing cocaine into the United States. 

Today we’re seeing technology used in a number of ways from evading detection in the mail and package delivery services to transporting drugs via drone. The Internet and network technology like VPN has of course changed the entire illegal drug economy. The Silk Road and other conduits in the ‘dark web’ have made it possible for people to buy illegal drugs online and have them delivered to their homes by FedEx or even USPS Priority Mail

Technology is changing drug smuggling by:

• Giving smugglers new ways to conceal odors in packaging.
• Enabling smugglers to more easily detect surveillance by law enforcement.
• Making clandestine ‘dark web’ drug markets possible and difficult to shut down.
• Making new types of vehicles, like drones, available for drug smuggling. 

Drones Delivering Illegal Drugs

One of the ways newer technology is being used in drug smuggling today comes in the form of drones. Authorities have been concerned about drones ever since they entered the mainstream consumer market. They worry that they could be used for anything from illegal surveillance to terrorism and, yes, smuggling drugs. Their worries are not unfounded. While we’ve been fortunate enough not to have any terrorist drone attacks in the U.S. they are not unheard of overseas. We already know illegal surveillance using drones is happening. As for drug smuggling by drone, that’s happening too. 

Most commercially available drones are relatively small and their payload and range are limited. This means that Mexican mega-cartels won’t move tons or even hundreds of pounds of product over the border with drones anytime soon. But drones are definitely being used to move smaller loads of 7-10lbs or so and that is not an insignificant amount of heroin or any other illegal drug. According to the DEA and U.S. Border Patrol, drug cartels are increasingly making use of drones to smuggle drugs across the U.S. border. Drones have even been used to smuggle drugs into prison yards in the U.S. believe it or not. 

Illegal Drug Manufacturing and Technology

Another area where technology is certainly having an impact is in drug manufacturing. Any drug that isn’t simply grown out of the ground is going to require a certain amount of science to manufacture. Even the stuff that does grow is being advanced by technology like high-powered lighting systems, hydroponics and even genetic engineering. 

As for the harder stuff, technological advancements in the late 90s led to purer more powerful crystal methamphetamine. The drug, which began in smaller, crude labs and was mostly handled by regional American biker gangs, came to the attention of organized criminal enterprises with much deeper pockets. They invested in much more sophisticated equipment and expertise and built near-pharmaceutical grade crystal methamphetamine labs. 

The Evolution of Dangerous Street Drug Tech

Another outgrowth of the influence technology has had on illegal drugs is the rise of so-called designer drugs and street drugs. The shadowy organizations that make the illegal drugs millions of Americans consume are hiring chemists and becoming more sophisticated than ever. The result is things like illegally manufactured fentanyl and carfentanil which are driving opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. through the roof. New drugs like Xylazine and Captagon are also a part of this worrying trend. 

The influence of technology on drugs isn’t limited to drug cartels alone. Others have used chemistry to find ways to evade the law by making small changes to illegal drugs on the molecular level to make them technically legal (designer drugs). Others are creating super potent synthetic versions of exotic drugs that were not yet popular in the U.S. Cathinones are probably the best example. Sold as bath salts and flakka, these drugs are based upon the active ingredient in the stimulant khat plant popular in the Middle East. 

Technology is serving to make illegal drugs more dangerous, for example:

• Fentanyl and carfentanil made in modern labs in most heroin and appearing in other drugs.
• Pharmaceutical drugs banned for human use, like Xylazine and Captagon being made.
• Criminal chemists developing drugs like bath salts and flakka based on natural compounds.

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