Drug smugglers are getting creative.
In addition to hiding large quantities of illegal drugs, such as heroin, inside the suspension systems on tour buses, traffickers are disguising liquid methamphetamine as beer, according to Channel 2 Action News.
It’s just one of the many innovative ways drug smugglers move large quantities of illegal drugs into the metro Atlanta area.
“It’s all up to the ingenuity of the creator and how they want to get their drugs from point A to point B,” said Georgia State Patrol Sgt. Charles Chapeau.
Chapeau showed Channel 2 two tour buses that had been used to smuggle heroin and methamphetamine into Georgia and smuggle cash back to the Mexican border.
Often, passengers were riding on the buses, unaware that they contained drugs.
In one bus, the drugs were packed into suspension bars behind the wheel drums. In the other bus, a secret compartment was created under center aisle.
“There’s access to a false compartment in the floor,” Chapeau told Channel 2. “It held 15 to 20 kilos.”
The Georgia State Patrol has nabbed many tractor-trailers transporting drugs on the interstate. One seized by officer had a secret compartment built under the sleeping compartment.
“I’d say a little over a million dollars was found in this one,” Chapeau said.
Last year, the Georgia State Patrol seized more than $36 million in drugs, cash and vehicles, according to Channel 2.
Trained dogs are effective in sniffing out contraband, but it usually comes down to officers outsmarting the smugglers.
“It’s an ongoing battle,” Chapeau said. “As they get creative, it’s just a matter of keeping up.”
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