BIMCO informs the shipping industry of the alarming risk of unwarranted arrests and severe prison sentences faced by crews when drugs are found on ships in certain ports.
Misguided assumptions
According to BIMCO, lately, there have been instances where ships and their crews arriving from South and Central America have been detained seemingly without valid justification. In two recent court cases, crew members were given very long prison sentences with judges concluding that hiding drugs onboard or attaching them to the ship’s hull is impossible without the crew knowing.
Such instances are both concerning and surprising. In many jurisdictions, drugs found on board or attached to the underwater hull would not be considered evidence connecting the crew to hiding the drugs on board their ship. Unfortunately, and disappointingly, other jurisdictions take the opposite view.
Smugglers’ modus operandi
With the increase in coca production, especially in Colombia, the maritime industry is increasingly targeted by drug smugglers looking for opportunities to get their product to market, typically in the US or Europe. All types of ships are at risk, and ports across South and Central America are exploited for smuggling purposes. Port perimeter security measures appear to offer little protection for the ship; drugs can make their way onto the ship in several different ways:
- Hidden on board by shore staff or, in some cases, crew members. Such perpetrators are often coerced as opposed to cooperating with criminals for financial gains
- Attached to the hull by divers and removed again by divers when the ship reaches its destination
- Hidden in shipping containers before loading
- Hidden directly in cargo holds during loading
- Hidden in the cooling units of reefer containers
- Hidden in chain lockers
- Hidden in manholes.
Sometimes, drugs are hidden in containers during its journey to the end destination. This method is referred to as a rip-on/rip-off operation. Neither the shipper nor the consignee is aware that their shipment is being used to smuggle illicit cargo. For this method to be successful, there will likely be actors in the country of origin or the transhipment port as well as in the destination country.
Practical security measures
It is often incredibly difficult for the crew to completely prevent the ship from being used by drug smugglers but there are measures that can be taken to reduce the risk:
- Provide education and regular briefings to crew on how smugglers operate
- Undertake systematic searches of the ship and cargo in connection with port calls, including using sniffer dogs if available
- Increase vigilance during port stays e.g. locking doors and compartments of the ship during loading for areas not in use, deploying extra watchmen or extending the use of electronic surveillance such as CCTV
- Conduct an underwater search of the hull immediately prior to departure.
Taking the above measures may reduce the risk but they are by no means a guarantee that drugs will not be hidden onboard by smugglers. An exacerbating issue is the occasional complicity of law enforcement, port officials and security operators making it virtually impossible for the crew to ensure that no drugs are hidden on board or attached to the hull.
Summary
A number of Turkish ports, particularly on the Black Sea, have recently been drawing attention due to their lengthy legal processes and long sentences; 30 years in two cases. BIMCO is aware of other ongoing criminal investigations in Türkiye and other countries, including Colombia.
