Drug Couriers Pay While Trafficking Bosses Prosper -By Fransiscus Nanga Roka

In the case of a person being arrested for smuggling drugs at an airport, the smuggler can be seen. However, the organization that hired the smuggler to travel to the airport, paid for the smuggler’s plane ticket and made sure the smuggler would receive a cash payment, may still be operating safely inside the airport security checkpoint. Governments that boast about having won the war against transnational drug trafficking need to consider how this disparity affects their efforts to stop transnational drug trafficking.

Commercial aviation provides criminal organizations with an opportunity to move products quickly, connect with customers across the globe and sell into profitable markets. However, details matter: The UNODC 2026 report indicates that the primary means of moving illegal substances (drugs) is through either land or sea transportation depending upon the type of illegal substance being transported. Passenger couriers represent just one element in a multi-faceted transportation network for illicit goods, they do not provide the primary method for moving all types of illegal goods.

The danger continues to be current. For instance, in July 2026, Reuters reported on concerns within Thailand that organized crime groups were using social media platforms to recruit airline employees for drug transportation purposes outside of the country. This instance demonstrates how criminal enterprises may focus on individuals whose jobs provide access to international travel.

Across departure, transit and destination airport networks in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe there is a major issue with identifying the network that lies beneath the traveler. The connection provided by a large airport doesn’t provide evidence that there is weak security at that airport. Also, if a traveler has a strange itinerary it doesn’t mean they are going to do something illegal.

The business model moves exposure to a lower level. Recruiting by means of money, false promises of employment, etc., are methods used to recruit. Couriers can be aware of their participation in the activity, and can also be coerced into it. A Legal Aid Organization in Indonesia has documented the ways that female drug couriers are vulnerable. Every situation needs to be investigated, instead of assuming the person is either guilty or innocent.

Concealing drugs in your luggage or inside your body will make a simple trip turn into an organized crime operation. Additionally, concealing drugs internally can create a life-threatening medical emergency. If a drug package leaks it could result in an overdose. Retaining a drug package inside the body can lead to a bowel obstruction. Airport security uses routine millimeter wave scanners to identify items under a traveler’s clothing. Do not mistake airport scanners for clinical imaging devices used to look at objects that have been swallowed.

The policy failure begins when arrest becomes the endpoint.

By capturing drugs and prosecuting a drug carrier, it is possible that the law enforcement could stop the first shipment of drugs. However, unless the law enforcement can determine who is recruiting, receiving, and financing these shipments, they run the risk of having the drug organization able to use different travelers to make additional deliveries.

Five strategic changes are necessary.

First, when you have an interception event, it triggers a network investigation. Preserve communication logs, booking records, payment history, and baggage evidence in accordance with law. Link investigator teams at airports with financial intelligence units and prosecutors in different countries.

Second, separate accountability from susceptibility. Investigators need to identify whether there was understanding, intent, threats, and/or deception. They also need to provide interpreters, legal aid, and determine if there could have been human trafficking or exploitation. Punishment must represent the established accountability and position.

Third, replace intuition with analytical accountability. It is not possible to use nervousness, nationality, gender or poverty to determine if there is an objective reason to believe that a person is likely to engage in criminal behavior. Therefore, it is important to develop passenger data systems that have clearly stated objectives, control over who has access to the data, a limit on how long the data can be stored, and be audited by a third party to assess potential discrimination.

Fourth, put into place emergency procedures prior to the occurrence of an emergency. If there is reason to believe that a person has hidden something within themselves, then it will require a thorough examination by a licensed physician. Medical treatment should not be withheld until after the individual confesses to having concealed something inside of them; additionally, if the physician determines that the individual needs to undergo some type of invasive procedure, then they must first receive formal authorization to do so, and must take measures to ensure that the individual’s rights are protected.

Fifth, build on the coordination of airport operations while continuing to investigate internal corruption. The Passenger and Cargo Control Program of UNODC is an example of how each country can work together with other agencies to control movement of people and goods at their national border crossings. While arrests may be used to measure the effectiveness of this program, it is better to assess its success based upon long term disruption to illicit networks.

Governments need to publish the number of individuals who have been convicted of organizing human trafficking, the amount of money or property that has been legally seized from these organizations, and how many individuals have received protection from government authorities.

A check point can stop a runner. To be effective, a good plan must find the people that made that runner disposable.

Fransiscus Nanga Roka

Faculty of Law University 17 August 1945 Surabaya and Managing Partner Law Firm Victorious Indonesia