Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic ... - menafatf

Fourth: Main techniques of smuggling drugs and psychotropic substances:
The means of smuggling drugs and psychotropic substances differ from one country to another
depending on the geographic location of the country and the control level on the different sectors.
These factors determine whether smuggling should be done by land, sea or air, and via regular or
irregular routes and border crossings. Figure 4 indicates the means most relied on by drug
smugglers based on the experience of the participating countries in the Typologies project.
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Figure 4 : Means used in drug smuggling
in the MENA countries
Figure 5 : Most important drug smuggling routes
in the world (CIA)
As indicated in “Figure 4”, the most widely means used by smugglers of narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances are concealment in different means of transportation, internal concealment
inside the body by swallowing, external concealment in sensitive areas of the body, or in shoes.
Drugs are also concealed in bags and their linings and smuggling can be done by mixing with
liquids or by mail packages. The undiscovered smuggling means remain unknown to the security
forces and call for ongoing monitoring and the adoption of modern intelligence techniques that
succeed in detecting them, especially intelligence effort by joining smuggling groups and thwarting
smuggling operations from the inside.
Image 3
Heroin concealed in melamine trays
Image 4
About 14,000 Captagon tablets concealed in pomegranates