The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has stated that despite a slight increase in the amount of drugs seized within the United States compared to the previous year, drug traffickers continue to use increasingly cunning methods to smuggle drugs into the country.
In a post on X platform on September 25, Michael Banks, the captain of the United States Border Patrol (USBP), revealed that on September 23, the Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue (BORSTAR) team utilized specialized underwater cutting tools to extract 8 pounds of cocaine from the bottom of a ship at the Port of Miami.
“BORSTAR dive team submerged in the waters of Miami and discovered a ‘parasitic’ drug package attached to the hull of a vessel from the Dominican Republic,” Banks wrote. “The CBP Port Operations Division has seized the batch of drugs. This professional team successfully completed the first seizure of ‘parasitic’ drugs, marking an innovative advancement in drug enforcement operations.”
The so-called “Parasite smuggling” refers to drug trafficking groups hiding drugs in waterproof, typically vacuum-sealed packaging and concealing them in hidden compartments below the waterline of oceangoing vessels such as container ships. When the vessel reaches its destination port, underwater divers employed by the drug trafficking group dive to retrieve the packages. Since the crew and owners of the ship are entirely unaware, this method is dubbed “parasitic.”
“This does not surprise me at all,” former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent Brian Townsend told Epoch Times, “Smuggling organizations are always looking for new ways to transport drugs illegally. They quickly adapt and continuously adjust to evade law enforcement and drug enforcement operations.”
Townsend noted that in recent years, drug enforcement efforts have significantly intensified, especially over the past year, as drug traffickers attempt to use various methods to reduce risks. He stated, “I do not believe Parasite smuggling will replace other methods; it is just an additional means to spread risks.” The vessel used, the Hoheplate, is registered in Antigua and Barbuda, with its voyage beginning at the Haina Occidental Port in the Dominican Republic and heading to Miami.
Jim Weber, a former Drug Enforcement Administration investigator and founder of Streetwise Consulting, described “Parasite smuggling” as an unconventional technique. “Every smuggling method has its pros and cons,” Weber told Epoch Times, noting that while this method may be less likely to be detected by law enforcement, it cannot transport large quantities of drugs. He elaborated, “Do you choose to hide drugs in containers, shipping large quantities at once but with higher interception rates, or opt for smaller shipments that are more concealed and harder to spot?”
A CBP spokesperson informed Epoch Times that the agency is “highly vigilant and actively combatting the use of sophisticated techniques by transnational criminal organizations to smuggle drugs into the United States and Europe, including ‘parasite smuggling.'”
The Times of London reported last month that in 2023, six Albanian divers were arrested in Husnes Port in Norway as they attempted to retrieve 330 pounds of cocaine from the ship Nordloire, which arrived from Brazil.
The U.S. market’s proximity to Latin America makes it an ideal target for “Parasite smuggling.”
CBP noted that between October 2024 and September 2025, a total of 583,256 pounds of drugs were seized in the United States, slightly higher than the previous year’s 573,469 pounds, including 185,004 pounds of marijuana and 170,119 pounds of methamphetamine.
However, the seizure of fentanyl significantly dropped from 21,889 pounds in the 2023/2024 fiscal year to 12,027 pounds in the 2024/2025 fiscal year.
Mexican criminal defense attorney Ilan Katz informed Epoch Times in August that the Mexican government had implemented “strenuous crackdown operations” against fentanyl smugglers. Katz said, “The seizure amounts within Mexico have risen while those within the United States have decreased.”
Most cases of “Parasite smuggling” indicate that the carried drugs are mainly cocaine from South America, not fentanyl.
The CBP spokesperson stated that the agency collaborates closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and employs a “multilayered strategy” to detect and intercept “Parasite smuggling.”
“The intelligence team scrutinizes incoming vessels; when ships reach ports, CBP conducts inspections based on the ship’s itinerary, country of origin, and other intelligence, deploying underwater vehicles and dive teams for inspection,” the spokesperson remarked. If drugs are discovered, CBP notifies HSI and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service.
Townsend pointed out that drug traffickers will adapt to CBP’s strategies and continually enhance their smuggling techniques. He mentioned that compared to methods such as trucks, tunnels, drones, international mails, or drug mules on flights, Parasite smuggling is more disadvantageous to smugglers, as it can only carry a limited amount of drugs and comes with high risks.
This method requires trained divers to install and recover drug packages, which poses significant dangers near the ship’s propellers or intake ports.
Despite this, due to the lucrative profits, there are still divers willing to take the risk in this line of work. Former ship captain and current senior maritime surveyor at a maritime insurance claims company, Harshvardhan Kumar, wrote in his company blog, “The rewards are so high that often the same diver will personally travel to the next port of call and retrieve the package they previously installed.”
Kumar noted that many countries require ships to undergo underwater inspections of their hulls before departure, with the video footage being retained by the captain as proof of a “clean hull.” “This footage can be shown at the next port to assuage concerns of local authorities,” he wrote.
Former DEA investigator Townsend emphasized the necessity for CBP and other law enforcement agencies to maintain high vigilance at ports and regularly alter inspection strategies. He stated, “Drug traffickers are adept at understanding our schedules, patterns, and exploiting them.”
In an interview released by CBP in June, Border Patrol Captain Banks expressed that the Border Patrol faces “tremendous challenges” due to the previous government’s border policies.
“Ever since I joined the military, every president has contributed to strengthening border security. Some have contributed more, some less, but each has made some effort,” Banks said. “(But) the Biden administration is completely the opposite; it has pushed back border security. So if you were to join the Border Patrol now, you’d find morale at an all-time low.”