NCJ Number
227306
Journal
Inside Homeland Security Dated: Summer 2009 Pages: 17-31
Date Published
2009
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study searched for verification of Multiple Consignment Contraband (MCC) smuggling incidents, defined as two or more different types of contraband smuggled at the same time.
Abstract
The study included an extensive literature review and a number of scholarly articles, books, national and international government documents, and newspaper stories. Web crawlers ran 24 hours a day every day between the years 2004 through 2009, with all possible MCC combinations being searched for (i.e., drugs, guns, jewels, nuclear weapons, cigarettes, wildlife, immigrants, human trafficking, etc.), and located key words identifying MCC incidents. This study found 16 documented cases of smugglers transporting more than one type of contraband in the same shipment. MCC shipments were frequently associated with Phase II and III smuggling organizations. MCC is occurring by land, air, and sea. A number of cases were identified where a smuggler or smuggling organization had smuggled more than one type of contraband but not in the same shipment. There were two incidents of a smuggler using multiple contrabands as a Trojan horse. There was one incident of a weapons smuggler assisting what he believed was a terrorist group involved in drug production and smuggling, with purchasing one hundred Igla surface-to-air missiles, armor-piercing rocket launchers, and combat helicopters. There was one finding of a smuggling organization having an armory that included a light anti-tank weapon.