SAN DIEGO — For the last two months, a couple from Tijuana has begun their daily border journey by examining their car each morning. Initially, the husband checks the trunk, followed by a thorough inspection of the bottom of their SUV, which is typically left on the street in their secured neighborhood overnight. At one time, they searched Amazon for a long-handled mirror to help them check under the vehicle more easily.
Whatever it takes to ensure there are no drugs — or individuals — concealed within.
A couple, who chose to remain anonymous due to safety issues, began this daily habit in July after their neighbor, who frequently crosses the border, informed them that she had seen someone tampering with her vehicle. She later discovered a GPS tracker on her car and reported it to the authorities, believing that human traffickers might be monitoring her border movements to exploit her as an unsuspecting smuggler, referred to as a “blind mule.”
I no longer cross the border without checking first,” the wife said recently. “After we do that, I feel more at ease. However, I still drive directly from my home to San Diego.
The utilization of blind mules to transport narcotics into the United States isnot a new tactic— and it is also not one that is frequently recognized publicly by U.S. law enforcement. However, in recent months, officials on both sides of the border have issued alerts to those who regularly cross the boundary about the possible risks.
In Tijuana, police have been highlighting casesof drivers who have noticed something is wrong before they arrive at the border checkpoint. And in April, the San Diego office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection stated it was working to “increase public awareness about thegrowing threatof ‘blind mule’ drug and human trafficking.
It is challenging to measure whether a growing threat actually exists, as no single agency monitors every instance of blind-mule activity. This is mainly due to the various ways victims become aware they have been used as a blind mule. In some cases, drivers in Mexico detect that their vehicle has been tampered with before reaching the border and report it to Tijuana authorities; in other instances, CBP officers discover the drugs at the point of entry; and in some cases, drivers find the drugs in their vehicles after they have already entered the U.S.
“Smugglers are constantly coming up with new methods to evade authorities,” Sidney Aki, director of field operations for CBP’s San Diego field office,said in the agency’sApril’s statement: “They could potentially conceal drugs in rented cars, private vehicles, or persuade individuals to transport parcels across borders with misleading information. Our objective is to inform the public so they can prevent themselves from being deceived.”
However, whether or not cases involving blind-mules are increasing is not the main concern for Danni Iredale, a defense attorney based in San Diego. She emphasized that it’s crucial for all parties involved — including potential victims, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and defense attorneys — to recognize that blind-mule trafficking is one of the numerous strategies that drug traffickers have employed and still use in the Tijuana-San Diego area.
This has always occurred, it is still happening, and the same causes remain,” Iredale, a partner at the private company Iredale & Roth, stated in an interview. “Blind mules are unaware of what they possess, so they are less inclined to display signs of anxiety and more likely to pass inspection; they cannot steal the drugs; and if caught, they cannot blame anyone else.
On a Friday in May, a woman contacted the Chula Vista police to say that while washing her Jeep at a car wash, she found what she believed were drugs wrapped in white trash bags inside her spare tire compartment, as stated in federal court records. Once they verified that the packages likely contained methamphetamine, detectives from the Chula Vista Police Department’s Narcotics Enforcement Team set up a trap by relocating the Jeep to a parking lot for surveillance.
An hour later, two individuals arrived to collect the drugs, and law enforcement intervened, leading to their arrest, as stated in court papers. The couple reportedly confessed to having completed a similar pickup earlier that same day, according to the documents.
The detectives from Chula Vista were interested in how the suspects managed to enter the Jeep, which they thought they had secured behind them when they moved the car, according to court documents. They performed an experiment and quickly discovered that one of the doors didn’t lock even after they pressed the lock button on the key fob and heard the alarm sound.
“According to this, investigators think that the (drug-trafficking organization) involved in this incident modified the Jeep’s rear driver’s side door to gain entry to the vehicle specifically for the task of obtaining the drugs,” a Drug Enforcement Administration agent stated in a factual declaration submitted with the criminal charge.
When asked about instances where seemingly blind mules report suspected contraband after crossing the border, Chula Vista police spokesperson Sgt. Anthony Molina stated that the department occasionally receives such cases. However, he noted that it would be challenging to provide a precise figure “due to the different ways in which calls or tips are received.”
He refused to provide any commentary on the Jeep-related case, referencing the active investigation.
Jacob Galvan, serving as the acting special agent in charge of the DEA’s San Diego field division, stated that although the DEA has not observed a notable rise in the use of blind mules lately, it remains one of several methods employed by drug trafficking groups to transport their shipments across the border.
“They will employ any method they can … and take advantage of anyone — they don’t mind,” Galvan stated in an interview.
Last Tuesday, the Tijuana Public Safety Department, encompassing the local police force, documented two suspected blind-mule incidents in quick succession.
A single individual waiting to cross the border from Mexicotold a law enforcementAn officer near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry reported hearing a baby’s cry coming from the trunk of his Honda Accord. After checking, Mexican police discovered a man, a woman, and a child around one year old, as per the authorities. All three were from Vietnam. The driver informed officials that he was unaware of the presence of the three individuals.
Hours earlier, Tijuana police reportedthat a man discovered a GPS tracker and three drug packages wrapped in black tape attached to the bottom of his Ford Focus. Authorities stated the man had been at a convenience store and checked under his vehicle as a precaution, after having previously found a GPS device on his car.
Tijuana authorities have noted multiple additional comparable incidents in recent months, frequently linked to narcotics and GPS tracking devices.
For instance, in late April, a man noticed that the trunk of his Volkswagen Cabrio was slightly ajar upon returning to his parking spot.at a shopping mall. He also observed that items which should have been in the trunk were now on the passenger seat. In the trunk, he discovered a spare tire that he claimed was not his, containing bags of drugs, according to the police.
Upon arrival, police reviewed the mall’s security cameras and discovered footage of a man leaving a different car. The video revealed that one of the mall’s security personnel had met with the individual, and they subsequently placed the tire into the victim’s vehicle, as stated in a news release. Law enforcement arrested the security guard and discovered 22 pounds of methamphetamine inside the tire.
In June, the Office of the Attorney General in Baja Californiareporteda man received a five-year sentence for placing three packages of methamphetamine and a GPS tracker beneath a car that belonged to another person, according to officials in a press statement.
Due to the frequency of blind-mule trafficking cases, it is a common initial defense for numerous individuals caught transporting drugs across the border.
A woman was taken into custody in 2023 at the San Ysidro Border Crossing after being found with approximately 43 pounds of cocaine in her car.admitted earlier this yearthat she had concocted a tale about being a blind mule. After prolonged insistence that she didn’t know how the drugs ended up in her car, she eventually confessed that she was aware of her actions and that she and her boyfriend had created fake messages beforehand to try to convince officials of her innocence if she was caught.
Those engaged in illegal activities typically first deny or downplay their participation before ultimately admitting guilt,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari, head of the criminal division in the Southern District of California, in a statement. “Instead of relying solely on their words, we look at the evidence. If the facts indicate a defendant was aware of what they were transporting, or intentionally avoided learning the truth, we will take responsibility.
Federal officials in San Diego have occasionally been hesitant to openly admit to using blind mules, although this occurred in 2015the San Diego Union-Tribune recognizednumerous instances where prosecutors dismissed charges against individuals who seemingly unknowingly transported items.
Since at least 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego has included a memorandum outlining different types of blind-mule schemes it is familiar with, which date back to 2011, as part of its standard exchange of discovery with defense attorneys in drug trafficking cases, according to discovery documents reviewed by the Union-Tribune.
The 2019 edition of the form was slightly longer than a single page. The latest version has expanded to over three full pages as prosecutors and the law enforcement groups they collaborate with have discovered additional blind-mule operations.
The tactic of the blind-mule defense was also central to a San Diego case thatreached the U.S. Supreme Court last year.
In that scenario, the case of Delilah Guadalupe Diaz versus the United States of America involved a legal issue regarding whether an expert witness can provide testimony about the criminal intent or mental state of most defendants facing specific charges, or if such testimony is considered too broad.
Diaz, who was advised by Iredale, directly disputed the statement made by a federal agent to the jury that “in most cases, the driver is aware they are employed … to transport the drugs from location A to location B.”
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3supporting the government and opposing Diaz, deciding that expert witnesses are allowed to inform juries that the majority of drug couriers apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border are aware they are carrying drugs, even if defendants claim they were unknowing intermediaries. The majority opinion noted that this type of testimony is not overly broad, as a jury can still determine whether a particular defendant is similar to other defendants or not.
In its April statement, CBP emphasized the importance of drivers staying alert and attentive to any potential issues with their vehicles, as blind mules “could encounter significant legal repercussions even if they are not aware of the illicit items they are carrying.”
Galvan, from the DEA’s San Diego office, agreed, stating that drivers could lose specific border-crossing benefits, like the SENTRI trusted-traveler program, even if they are unintentionally carrying drugs.
He mentioned that drug dealers “do their research” in Mexico, monitoring who frequently crosses the border. “The cartels are aware of who uses SENTRI,” he stated. “They exploit this… because it’s quicker and those individuals have already been checked.”
Galvan mentioned that if drivers in the United States discover drugs concealed in their cars, they should promptly contact 911.
“They shouldn’t feel scared,” he stated, adding that additional research will assist officials in determining if a driver was unknowingly transporting narcotics.
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