Dealer and dealership are two different things.
Criminals are not short of creative ways to smuggle drugs. Law enforcement officers are constantly challenged by the many possibilities. One shipment of illegal methamphetamines from Mexico ended up in the wrong hands when it was delivered to the wrong dealer. The drugs ended up in the wrong hands and were instead delivered to drug dealers. Oops.
According to an Ontario Provincial Police news release, four employees from four dealerships were assigned with inspecting newly-arrived vehicles. They found non-spec spare tires in many of the Ford Fusion sedans. The employees discovered that the tires were stuffed with meth. They called the authorities. Ford provided shipping information and police contacted Ford.
Meth was found in nine of the 14 vehicles that were searched at the Ford dealerships. Six other vehicles from the same shipment of meth were found to have meth on their second rail cars. A similar shipment of cars was then stopped by the police as it entered Canada. The police found nearly 400 pounds (180 kg) packed in the cars. They estimated that the street value was $4.5 million.
According to police, Ford and the railroad company were exploited “by a well-established organized crime group,” pointing to Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel. Further inspections of vehicles at the Hermosillo factory in Mexico yielded no drug results. Police believe that the criminals have stopped using tire packing and vehicle shipment to distribute and smuggle drugs.
Drug smuggling, a multi-billion dollar criminal enterprise, is today’s Hydra. No matter how many smuggling routes police close, drug smugglers will continue to find new ways of transporting drugs. The cartel may not be shipping drugs in spare tires on Ford Fusions anymore, but it is certain that the drugs are still flowing over borders.