See the Secret Networks Smuggling Drugs to the U.S. From Latin America

Demand in America for illegal drugs such as fentanyl and cocaine fuels sophisticated systems for smuggling them in. Traffickers deploy everything from fast-moving fiberglass boats to stealthy “narco-subs” to cargo ships to get their products to users without losing shipments to seizures or couriers to arrest. With decades of experience, according to U.S. counternarcotics officials, the traffickers are usually a step ahead of America and its allies in Latin American and Caribbean waters.

The flow of fentanyl

Arguably the most dangerous illegal drug consumed by Americans, fentanyl is usually smuggled through ports of entry by U.S. citizens hired as “mules,” moving small amounts of the synthetic opioid for criminal groups such as the Sinaloa cartel, according to U.S. and Mexican officials. Nogales, Ariz., is one of the busiest fentanyl corridors in the U.S., with the drug transported in passenger cars, trucks and other methods.