Smuggling

Smuggling is the act of moving goods or people into or out of a country in violation of the law. Smugglers often move goods to avoid paying legal duties, or taxes and fees, on these items. This allows them to sell the goods and keep all of the profits while avoiding paying any taxes on their income. Smuggling deprives the government of taxes that are needed to maintain society.

Smugglers also move goods that cannot legally be transferred, including human slaves, illegal drugs, foods, ancient artifacts, and exotic animals. Foods and agricultural products may carry dangerous insects or diseases that can devastate crops. The transfer of animals is regulated to protect endangered species and prevent sick animals from infecting others.

Smuggling is an activity that thrives when demand for illegal or expensive goods is high. It is also often practiced under authoritarian rule, when trade is limited.

Background

Smuggling has a long and varied history. It came to greater prominence as empires grew. The British Empire, for example, was engaged in expensive wars and found itself short of revenue during the eighteenth century. England had been collecting customs duties, or taxes on imported goods, for centuries. The country also began levying an excise tax, or a tax on domestic consumption of goods, to pay for civil wars during the seventeenth century. This excise at first covered beer, chocolate, cider, coffee, spirits, and tea, but later was expanded to other necessary products, such as leather, salt, and soap. These taxes increased during the eighteenth century, and by the middle of the century, the tea tax was almost 70 percent of the cost of the leaves. Tea and other goods were imported, so the cost to the consumer included both the excise and import duties. People were unable to afford many necessities, so in many cases, smugglers met their needs.

Most smugglers were found in coastal areas. Goods were transported by ship and taken ashore under cover of darkness. The sailors often hired local laborers, who both helped carry the goods inland and sometimes bought the items. People at all levels of society might participate, in either moving or buying the goods. Wealthy merchants might buy the goods for resale, greatly increasing their profit by avoiding the costs of paying taxes, and customers enjoyed the much-reduced price of goods.

While some people were full-time smugglers, others were simply individuals who saw an opportunity to make some money and took it. These might be sailors who purchased goods in foreign lands and resold them at home, or fishermen who were having difficulty and decided to transport other goods in their sailing vessels for some quick cash.

During the twentieth century, smuggling in the United States flourished during a period known as Prohibition. The production and sale of alcoholic beverages was largely illegal, so many people found ways to get it into the country. Illegal transportation of alcoholic beverages is known as rum-running. Many rumrunners used ships at anchor outside the jurisdiction of the government. They brought the alcohol ashore in small boats that could avoid the attention of the US Coast Guard. Others crossed the borders from Canada and Mexico by vehicle.

Overview

Modern smuggling often involves illegal drugs. Narcotic sales around the world are worth billions of dollars. Drug smugglers, who are called traffickers, hide their cargoes in many ways to avoid being caught. Drugs may be concealed inside secret compartments in vehicles, aircraft, and boats. Drugs are hidden inside shipments of goods, such as fruits and vegetables. Sometimes the drugs are hidden inside pallets of produce, but they are also hidden inside the fruits and vegetables themselves. Crystal meth has been found hidden in pineapples, for example. Bags of drugs have been found in large containers of salsa. Traffickers have created fake items that look like food, including plastic carrots and doughnuts, and hidden drugs inside them. Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, a notorious drug lord, opened a legitimate cannery business in Guadalajara, Mexico. He filled thousands of cans with cocaine, and put labels that said "jalapeños" on them.

Smugglers use many simple methods of moving goods while others take advantage of new technology. People have been known to swallow balloons filled with drugs to sneak them past customs agents. Small planes fly over borders and land in remote areas. Many traffickers dig tunnels to cross international borders. These may be simple passageways, or large reinforced tunnels with lights, rails, and train cars passing through them. Traffickers have been caught transporting illicit cargo using very advanced methods, such as submarines and drones.

Human smuggling usually refers to people who willingly pay a smuggler to help them enter a country without legal documentation. Human trafficking involves people who are unwillingly transferred into a country. In either case, the people moving them may use similar methods. People may cross borders on foot, in areas with little law enforcement. Many people attempting to escape civil war and unrest in the Middle East and Africa are smuggled across the Mediterranean Sea. In ten months in 2016, an estimated 3,700 people died in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe. In many cases, smugglers put too many people in small boats that capsized, or gave them inflatable rafts or rings, and left them in the water.

Human smuggling frequently occurs along the border between the United States and Mexico. The people being smuggled risk injury or death, while the smugglers, called coyotes, make huge profits. The coyotes may rob them and abandon them in deserted areas. Smugglers may also conceal people by locking them inside tractor-trailers. Many people have died in such situations when the heat inside the trucks has become unbearable, and they could not escape.

Animals are also endangered by smuggling. The illegal wildlife trade is highly profitable, and is one of the biggest black markets in the world. The most common creatures confiscated at the US-Mexican border are parrots, reptiles, and small monkeys from South America and Mexico. Not all are for the pet trade. Some people want the animals for food—turtles, for example—or to make leather; others are interested in body parts they believe have magical or medicinal powers. Trade in endangered species could contribute to extinction or infect populations with diseases.

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