DEL RIO, Texas (NewsNation) — U.S. authorities at the southern border say cartels are becoming more desperate after President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 win and are using a new tactic to smuggle narcotics across the border: Unsuspecting drivers.
The so-called “blind mules” are unknowingly bringing drugs over the border while cartel members use a tracker to retrieve the drugs on the U.S. side of the border.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector is reporting that smugglers are attaching magnets and GPS trackers to vehicles to stash their drugs. Authorities tell NewsNation that the smugglers follow the trackers in order to retrieve the drugs later.
“Think of it as any other business,” said former Homeland Security agent Victor Avila. “You have your product that you have to get out, and if you don’t get out that product, you don’t get paid. And so they will resort to whatever it is that they have to resort to to move that product.”
NewsNation sources say cartels are getting increasingly desperate as President Joe Biden’s term comes to an end and some smugglers expect new regulations at the southern border.