Faced with a life of poverty, many people choose to risk their lives for a few thousand dollars.
`I have no other choice. I need money,` said Tonio, 27, unemployed and in debt.
People like Tonio are called drug `mules`.
If successful, the conspirators will make a 1,000% profit.
But transport `mules` receive 3,200 – 11,000 USD per trip, depending on the amount of goods carried.
`It’s not complicated, just contact the right people,` Tonio said.
Cayenne city, capital of Guiana, French overseas territory in northeastern South America.
There is no shortage of people willing to do this.
`The French territory’s geographical location and poverty make it one of the main centers of the cocaine trade,` officials said.
Most of Guiana is the Amazon jungle, sandwiched between Brazil and Suriname.
The center of human drug trafficking is the town of Saint-Laurent, along the Suriname border.
`We understand the risks. It’s not a trip, but what to do when there is no other choice?`, said Julia, a young mother of two children from Suriname.
Julia and her friend Lydia are two descendants of African slaves brought to Suriname by the Dutch.
She was arrested at the airport carrying 4.5 kg of cocaine.
Customs officers check the luggage of passengers departing to Paris from Felix Eboue Airport, Cayenne, French Guiana, October 11, 2022.
Some people have to `practice` for these deals.
When they reach their destination, they take laxatives and the drug packets are eliminated from their bodies.
Once loaded, most `mules` travel about three hours to Felix Eboue International Airport by taxi on the only road connecting the cities.
`We made a few arrests in September 2022, including two traffic stops that netted 4 kilograms of cocaine. `Half was swallowed,` one police officer said. `More officers needed
The next `obstacle` for the `mules` is at the airport, where police and customs officers are on duty.
Security officers often have only a few minutes to identify suspects.
Doctor Karim Hamiche points to a bag of cocaine in the abdomen of an illegal transporter, at Cayenne hospital, French Guiana, October 14, 2022.
He was arrested and taken to UMJ, the specialized unit at Cayenne hospital, for X-rays.
`In April 2022, a 37-year-old man died at the hospital, after collapsing on the street. The autopsy results discovered more than a kilogram of cocaine inside his body,` Mr. Hamiche recalled.
In France, customs officers noticed an 18-year-old man wearing a black jacket with a nervous appearance who had just landed on a plane from Cayenne to Orly, Paris’ second airport.
Tension increased when the suspect pulled out a package of cocaine weighing more than a kilogram from his hood.
The French Ministry of the Interior plans to arrange a scanner to screen all passengers arriving at the airport from Cayenne.
But many people like Saphia Benhamida, a lawyer in Cayenne whose clients include a number of suspected drug traffickers, believe it is important to get to the root of the problem.
`Wherever there is poverty, there are always ‘mules’. It’s not possible to just check everyone at the airport, nor can you change things just by increasing the police. More infrastructure is needed.`
