Drug Detection Capabilities Evolve To Counter Smugglers’ Shifting Tactics

James McKenna Nov 19, 2025

New drugs, routes and tricks spur operators and vendors toward smarter, faster, safer devices. Air, ground, maritime and rail operators as well as enforcement officials face rapid changes in drug smugglers’ tactics, while detection vendors that support them are refining technology — including artificial intelligence (AI) — for products to help foil the crooks. Tougher enforcement efforts around the world, greater supplies and higher prices have spurred smugglers to decentralize their organizations, outsource methods and diversify routes for moving narcotics, such as “designing” more potent drugs that can be shipped in smaller, less detectable parcels. “The traditional smuggling routes and…