June 3, 2026, 11:33 am | Read time: 3 minutes
When you check your suitcase at the airport, the worst you usually expect is that it won’t arrive at your vacation destination or gets lost. But it can get much worse. In a new scam, criminals are using passengers as drug mules. You can find all the details here.
Suitcase Packed with Drugs
Imagine you check your suitcase at the counter as usual. It’s weighed and tagged with the passenger’s name and destination airport. Everything seems normal. But in a current scam, criminals swap the tag with another name. The tag is placed on a different suitcase, one packed with drugs.
What sounds unbelievable is actually happening. In an investigative report, the Canadian magazine “CTV News” uncovered corruption at Canadian airports. There are 17 known cases where passengers have fallen victim to this scheme.
A variety of flights and passengers were affected. The departure country was always Canada. Sometimes the flight went to Germany, sometimes to Morocco or France. There were also countries involved where drug smuggling can result in the death penalty.
Some passengers were arrested and taken away. In all known cases, the innocent victims were eventually exonerated. How often drugs slipped through undetected is unknown.
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Criminals Use Tracking Devices
Exactly how the criminals operate is not entirely clear. However, several airport employees have been arrested during the investigation. They are accused of removing tags from suitcases and attaching them to luggage filled with drugs. Subsequently, according to the report, other baggage tags were placed on the unsuspecting passengers’ suitcases, such as those typically used for unclaimed or delayed luggage.
When the drug-filled suitcase was smuggled unnoticed into the next country, the “recipients” intercepted it there. The luggage was equipped not only with drugs but also with a tracking device. If the bags were pulled aside during inspection, the unsuspecting passenger faced the problem.
How You Can Protect Yourself
How can you best protect yourself from something like this? “CTV News” offers various tips, including from a passenger who was arrested with drugs in her luggage and now always takes precautions since the incident.
- Travelers should take photos and videos of their luggage at the airport in advance. This way, you can document what your suitcase actually looks like and “prove” it later.
- Photos or videos while the suitcase is being weighed can also be helpful. This way, you can verify how heavy the suitcase actually was at check-in and whether the weight changed afterward.
- A tracker can be helpful. According to “CTV News,” several victims reported that they were able to find out where their real suitcases ended up thanks to their tracking devices.