I am currently researching for a book based on drug smuggling (or maybe I’m researching a real life plot to smuggle millions of pounds of drugs :D). Needless to say, the method of smuggling will make or break the story and I’m currently in the very early stages of researching some ideas. I thought that this might be a good place to get some very basic feedback and find out if my ideas are worth pursuing. Sorry if I’ve posted this in the wrong place.
– The first potential method involves airplane maintenance.
I am interested if airplanes (of any sort) are ever (perhaps periodically) sent away to a facility for maintenance? I’m thinking somewhere away from the exceptionally high levels of security you would find in an airport. Perhaps somewhere where staff are not subject to the same level of security checks.
Perhaps the plane could be modified in some way during ‘maintenance’ and drugs could then be stored for transportation. Is there any way I could make this work?
– The second potential method of smuggling involves private aircraft.
Could anyone shed any light on what sort of security checks are made on private jets? I’m not looking for full details on how one might smuggle drugs onto a jet but just some basic info which might give me an idea as to whether I should research this method more.
By: tenthije - 2nd February 2015 at 23:18
I am interested if airplanes (of any sort) are ever (perhaps periodically) sent away to a facility for maintenance? I’m thinking somewhere away from the exceptionally high levels of security you would find in an airport. Perhaps somewhere where staff are not subject to the same level of security checks.
That depends. Some airlines do everything in-house, some airlines do everything but the D-check (link) (the most comprehensive checks). Others outsource everything.
One of the airports nearby (Maastricht, NL) has a large maintenance fascility for Bombardier DHC-8s. Planes from all over Europe and North Africa visit here frequently, with visitors from further away dropping in from time to time as well. Luton has a large maintenance fascility for Gulfstream jets, Woensdrecht (NL) a large fascility for Fokkers and Airbusses, Moenchengladbach (DE) has a large fascility for ATRs and so on. The same minimum security standards apply as they do at say Heathrow, Schiphol or Frankfurt. But of you’ll understand that the large hubs go above and beyond minimum requirements as they have vastly more manpower and much larger budgets. Just to be clear, I most definately do NOT want to imply security at minor airports is insufficient!
Perhaps the plane could be modified in some way during ‘maintenance’ and drugs could then be stored for transportation. Is there any way I could make this work?
Sure there is. From time to time you hear the police arresting ramp personnel or maintenance crew. There is a lot of money in drugs trafficing so it should come as no surprise that some people take the offer. Or they can be blackmailed into doing so (Dutch link , please use Google translate). And this is definately not limited to minor airports, it also happens at large airports like Schiphol (link) or Heathrow (link).
Could anyone shed any light on what sort of security checks are made on private jets? I’m not looking for full details on how one might smuggle drugs onto a jet but just some basic info which might give me an idea as to whether I should research this method more.
Same as with the big jets. The passengers and luggage will go through the scanners, but the plane is not normally turned inside-out, though the sniffer dogs can spot check any plane they like. I don’t know about the situation in England, but at Schiphol the Paramaribo flights where notorious for drugs running. A few years ago the police started to check 100% of the passengers and freight and they continue doing so to this day. Despite the 100% checks the police still occaisionally find drugs.
By: TomcatViP - 2nd February 2015 at 23:00
There was a recent use of small UAS to smuggle drug across the San Ysidro/Tijuana border lately (California/Mexico).
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Source:
The gardian via Google
By: skyskooter - 2nd February 2015 at 21:42
I was once told by somebody on the wrong side of the law about a case of drug smuggling in Wales. It involved a light aircraft being flown at night from Holland with a crew of two, the pilot and the drug carrier. The latter was ex-SAS who knew the Welsh mountains like the back of his hand. The flight plan took them over those mountains and at a pre-arranged drop zone he baled out with his load suspended from his body the intention being that it would hit the ground first and reduce the rate of descent for the carrier. The pilot flew the aircraft on its course to his destination tracked by ground radar but now with nothing to hide. Having landed the courier slung the pack on his back and ran to a point where an accomplice in a car picked him up.
By: Newforest - 2nd February 2015 at 17:16
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendition_aircraft
Here are two good threads to start with concerning jet smugglers! There is very little of a limit to the human imagination in circumventing the law, maybe space but that will probably be used sometime soon.
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February 2, 2015 at 3:37 pm