In Tijuana, police have been highlighting cases<\/a> of drivers who have realized something is amiss before they\u2019ve reached the border crossing. And in April, U.S. Customs and Border Protection\u2019s San Diego office said it was trying to \u201craise public awareness about the growing threat<\/a> of \u2018blind mule\u2019 drug and human trafficking.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether or not there is indeed such a growing threat is difficult to quantify, since it appears no one agency tracks every blind-mule case. That\u2019s largely because there are multiple ways that victims realize they\u2019ve been used as a blind mule. Sometimes drivers in Mexico notice before they reach the border that their vehicle has been tampered with and they report that to Tijuana authorities; sometimes CBP officers find the drugs at the port of entry; and sometimes drivers find the drugs in their vehicles after they\u2019ve already crossed into the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cSmugglers are continually developing new ways to bypass law enforcement,\u201d Sidney Aki, director of field operations for CBP\u2019s San Diego field office, said in the agency\u2019s<\/a> April statement. \u201cThey may secretly hide narcotics in rental cars, personal vehicles, or even convince people to carry packages across borders under false pretenses. Our goal here is to educate the public so they can avoid becoming victims.\u201d<\/p>\n But whether or not blind-mule cases are on the rise\u00a0is somewhat beside the point to Danni Iredale, a San Diego defense attorney. She said it\u2019s important that everyone involved \u2014 from potential victims to law enforcement agencies to prosecutors and defense attorneys \u2014 acknowledge that blind-mule trafficking is one of the many tactics that drug traffickers have used and continue to use in the Tijuana-San Diego region.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has always happened, it continues to happen, and the same reasons exist,\u201d Iredale, partner at the private firm Iredale & Roth, said in an interview. \u201cBlind mules don\u2019t know what they have, so they\u2019re less likely to show signs of nervousness and more likely to pass inspection; they can\u2019t steal the drugs; and they can\u2019t point the finger to anyone else if they\u2019re caught.\u201d<\/p>\n A known tactic<\/p>\n On a Friday in May, a woman called Chula Vista police to report that while cleaning her Jeep at a car wash, she had discovered what she suspected were drugs wrapped in white trash bags stuffed in her spare-tire compartment, according to federal court documents. After confirming the packages of drugs were most likely methamphetamine,\u00a0detectives from Chula Vista police\u2019s Narcotic Enforcement Team set a trap, moving the Jeep to a parking lot where they could conduct surveillance.<\/p>\n When two people drove up about an hour later to retrieve the drugs, police moved in and arrested them, according to court documents. The pair allegedly admitted that they had already made a similar pickup earlier that day, the records state.<\/p>\n The Chula Vista detectives were curious about how the suspects had accessed the Jeep, which the detectives believed they had locked behind them when they had moved the vehicle, so they conducted a test, court records showed. They soon realized one door on the Jeep did not lock even when they pressed the lock button on the key fob and heard the alarm chirp.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on this, investigators believe that the (drug-trafficking organization) responsible for this incident had tampered with the Jeep\u2019s rear driver\u2019s side door to ensure access to the vehicle for the sole purpose of retrieving the narcotics,\u201d a Drug Enforcement Administration agent wrote in a statement of facts included with the criminal complaint.<\/p>\n Asked about cases in which apparent blind mules report suspected contraband after crossing the border, Chula Vista police spokesperson Sgt. Anthony Molina said the department does get some cases \u201cevery now and then.\u201d But he added that it would be difficult to provide an exact number \u201cgiven the variety of ways the calls or tips come in.\u201d<\/p>\n He declined to comment on the case involving the Jeep, citing the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n Jacob Galvan, acting special agent in charge of the DEA\u2019s San Diego field division, said that while the DEA has not noticed any significant increase in the use of blind mules recently, it is one of the many ways that drug-trafficking organizations move their loads across the border.<\/p>\n \u201cThey will use any means they can \u2026 and exploit anybody \u2014 they don\u2019t care,\u201d Galvan said in an interview.<\/p>\n Last week on Tuesday, the Tijuana Public Safety Department, which includes the Tijuana police, reported two apparent blind-mule cases within hours of each other.<\/p>\n One man waiting to cross the border from Mexico told a law enforcement<\/a> officer near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry that he could hear a baby crying from the trunk of his Honda Accord. Upon inspection, Mexican police found a man, a woman and a roughly 1-year-old child, according to police. They were all from Vietnam. The driver told officials he did not know the trio.<\/p>\n Hours earlier, Tijuana police reported<\/a> that a man had found a GPS tracker and three packages of drugs wrapped in black tape secured to the underside of his Ford Focus. Police said the man had been at a convenience store and checked underneath his car out of precaution, since he\u2019d previously found a GPS device attached to his car.<\/p>\n Tijuana police have reported several other similar cases in recent months, often involving both drugs and GPS trackers.<\/p>\n For example, in late April, a man realized the trunk of his Volkswagen Cabrio was slightly open when he returned to his parking spot at a shopping mall<\/a>. He also noticed that items that should have been in the trunk were now on the passenger seat. Inside the trunk, he found a spare tire that he said did not belong to him, with bags of drugs tucked inside, police said.<\/p>\n When police arrived, they checked the mall\u2019s security cameras and found footage of a man exiting a different vehicle. The footage showed one of the mall\u2019s security guards had met up with the man, and together they placed the tire in the victim\u2019s vehicle, according to a news release. Officers arrested the security guard and found 22 pounds of methamphetamine inside the tire.<\/p>\n In June, Mexico\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s Office in Baja California reported<\/a> that a man was sentenced to five years for placing three packages of methamphetamine and a GPS tracker under a car belonging to someone else \u201cwith the intention of transporting it to the United States,\u201d officials said in a news release.<\/p>\n \u2018We follow the evidence\u2019<\/p>\n Because of the prevalence of blind-mule trafficking incidents, it\u2019s a popular defense \u2014 at least initially \u2014 for many people caught driving drugs across the border.<\/p>\n A woman arrested in 2023 at the San Ysidro Port of Entry with nearly 43 pounds of cocaine in her vehicle admitted earlier this year<\/a> that she\u2019d made up a cover story about being a blind mule. After long maintaining that she was unaware of how the drugs got into her vehicle, she later admitted that she knew what she was doing and that she and her boyfriend had fabricated messages beforehand in an attempt to convince authorities of her innocence in case she was caught.<\/p>\n \u201cIndividuals involved in criminal activity often initially deny or minimize their involvement only to eventually plead guilty,\u201d Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari, chief of the criminal division in the Southern District of California, said in a statement. \u201cRather than be guided by their statements alone, we follow the evidence. If the facts show a defendant knew what he\/she was transporting, or deliberately avoided finding out, we will hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Federal prosecutors in San Diego have been reluctant at times to publicly acknowledge the use of blind mules, though in 2015 the Union-Tribune identified<\/a> several cases in which prosecutors dropped charges against apparent unwitting couriers.<\/p>\n And since at least 2019,\u00a0the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in San Diego has included a memorandum disclosing the various types of blind-mule schemes that it is aware of dating back to 2011 as part of its routine exchange of discovery with defense counsel in drug-trafficking cases, according to discovery documents viewed by the Union-Tribune.<\/p>\n The 2019 version of that form was a little longer than one full page. The current version has grown to more than three full pages as prosecutors and the law enforcement agencies they work with have uncovered new blind-mule schemes.<\/p>\n The blind-mule defense was also at the heart of a San Diego case that made it to the U.S. Supreme Court<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n In that case, Delilah Guadalupe Diaz v. United States of America, the legal question centered on whether an expert can testify about the criminal intent or mental state of most defendants charged with a particular crime, or if that kind of testimony is too general.<\/p>\n Diaz, who was represented by Iredale, specifically challenged the testimony of a federal agent who told a jury that \u201cin most circumstances, the driver knows they are hired \u2026 to take the drugs from point A to point B.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"On](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SUT-L-BLIND-MULES-04.jpg\")
On July 28, a woman reported to the Tijuana police that she had found an unknown spare tire in the trunk of her car. The police found packages of drugs inside the tire. (Tijuana Public Safety Department)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SUT-L-BLIND-MULES-06.jpg\")
The Tijuana Public Safety Department reported on Sept. 16 that a man called the police after finding a GPS tracker and packages of drugs under his vehicle. (Tijuana Public Safety Department)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SUT-L-BLIND-MULES-02.jpg\")
The Tijuana Police Department reported on April 30 that a man called them after finding drugs inside a spare tire in his vehicle that did not belong to him. A security guard from the mall where the car was parked was arrested in connection with the incident. (Tijuana Public Safety Department)<\/p>\n