drug traffickers use a form of a "relay system" to move drugs across oceans, often involving transferring illicit cargo between different vessels or using a system of dropping and retrieving packages at sea. This is part of a variety of sophisticated maritime smuggling techniques designed to evade law enforcement.
Specific methods that resemble a relay system include:
At-Sea Drop-offs/Retrievals: Traffickers may use large ships or self-propelled semi-submersibles (SPSS) to transport vast quantities of drugs across most of the ocean journey. As they near the destination coastline or a specific rendezvous point in international waters, they drop the cargo, typically packed in waterproof bundles with GPS trackers and sometimes life jackets or buoys, for retrieval by smaller, faster local boats that are less likely to attract suspicion near shore.
"Narco-Torpedoes": In this method, a container shaped like a torpedo and filled with drugs is towed underwater by a legitimate-looking fishing vessel. If the towing boat is approached by authorities, it can release the "torpedo" with a location-transmitting buoy, allowing a second "backup" boat to retrieve the cargo later when law enforcement has left the area.
Transhipment via Cargo Ships: Drugs are often hidden within legitimate commercial cargo or attached to the hull of large merchant ships by divers (a process sometimes called "parasitic attachment"). Once the ship arrives at a major port, the drugs are either retrieved by local traffickers (sometimes with insider help from corrupt port workers) or transferred to other transport methods to reach their final destination, effectively acting as a relay in the supply chain.
Whale-shaped Mini-subs: In one recent development, mini-submarines were built to be transported on larger cargo ships, then dropped in international waters for retrieval by smaller boats to deliver the drugs ashore, demonstrating another form of multi-stage transport.
These methods highlight the significant innovation by criminal organisations to adapt to anti-narcotics efforts and utilise the vastness of the oceans for illicit trade.