Adapt and Survive

Here are a couple of lines in the movie, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” –
We drift through the universe from planet to planet, pushed on by the solar winds. We adapt... and we survive. The function of life is survival.

The movie is about an alien species invading the Earth. Here in Arizona, we have our own version of an illegal invasion – drugs coming across the border. And the smugglers follow the same dictum; adapt and survive.

Their problem now is the increased enforcement activities of ICE along the border for foot traffic. Foot traffic is key to getting marijuana into the US because of the bulk. Unless you can co-opt a truck or rail car, the volume makes it more difficult to smuggle in a vehicle. So the standard was to load up an illegal with a backpack (50 or 60 pounds) and retrieve it on the other side of the border. But this isn’t working as well as it has in the past. Burdened with a bale of weed, it’s hard to escape ICE agents. Mules are likely to drop their loads and try to escape.

So what’s the new wrinkle? Ultralight aircraft.

These are motorized mini-planes (kites in some cases) that can carry a hundred or so pounds of cargo, depending on the weight of the pilot. These are able to fly under the radar – literally – drop a bundle over the border and then return for another load. They can land in less than the length of a football field. But why land when you can just drop a bale from 10 or 20 feet off the ground?

The first ultralights appeared in 2008, but according to ICE, they’ve arrested 40 suspects this year connected to ultralight transportation of drugs.

And so the cycle continues. More technology and more personnel on our side spawns an upgrade in the South. “Adapt and survive” played out on the border.