Aviation Security

A discussion on the threat of illegal drug trafficking in airports.

In aviation, one of the biggest threats is the illegal trafficking of drugs. In a very recent case at Philadelphia International Airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers confiscated "41 pounds of cocaine: a street value of around 1.3 million" (Kiner, 2022). It was hidden in a small space of a passenger airplane that had arrived from the Dominican Republic. Thanks to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and their aircraft search unit, illegal contraband has a near-impossible chance of being successfully smuggled in and out of the country. Although trafficking illegal substances in and out of the country is difficult, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency still confiscates "an average of 4,732 pounds of dangerous drugs every day at U.S. ports of entry" (Kiner, 2022). This is a significant amount and proves that people still think that they can successfully get away with smuggling substances. In this specific case, "16 brick-shaped objects concealed under a blanket in an avionics technical space" (Kiner, 2022). The bricks were dangerously piled on top of wires that could easily become dislodged and set the plane on fire (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 2022).

This not only proves the significance of the problem but also shows how the smugglers have no regard for the other passengers because they put everyone at risk of a deadly scenario. Seizures like this happen more frequently than we expect in the U.S. and because of this, many airports have implemented a branch of the CBP called aircraft search teams. According to the data, "During the last six years alone, the Aircraft Search Team officers at JFK have intercepted 32 illegal drug shipments including 266 pounds of cocaine, 90 pounds of marijuana, 42 pounds. of hashish, 28 pounds of heroin, and 3.2 pounds of ecstasy" (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 2022). Drug smugglers will go to great lengths to get drugs into the country and will often put the lives of others at risk while doing so, which is why we need to intercept the problem before it even makes its way onto the plane. My recommendation would be to implement the UCP aircraft search teams at more airports and to even bring drug-sniffing dogs onto planes as a final check before takeoff. This way drugs can be intercepted before even making their way into the air.

References

Kiner, D. (2022, August 19). Cocaine valued at $1.3 million was found in an airplane at Philadelphia International Airport. PennLive. https://www.pennlive.com/news/2022/08/cocaine-valued-at-13-million-found-in-airplane-at-philadelphia-international-airport.html

U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (2022, September 28). Security screening. Security Screening | Transportation Security Administration. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening