Cocaine cows! Cartels exploit shipping loophole 🐮

SHIPPING NEWS

Cartels Turn ‘Cocaine Cows’ into a New Maritime Smuggling Threat

Latin American drug cartels are exploiting one of the dirtiest and least-policed corners of global shipping—live-cattle carriers—to move multi-tonne cocaine loads into Europe. Intelligence reporting shows traffickers using these ageing livestock vessels to hide drugs inside dung-filled feed silos, bulk storage areas, and even among dead or dying cattle onboard. The ships, now grimly nicknamed “cocaine cows,” provide the perfect cover: high odour, poor visibility, minimal inspections, and complex bio-security requirements that deter authorities from conducting thorough searches.

Many of these cattle carriers operate in extremely poor sanitary conditions and sail from Brazil and Colombia before routing via ports in Lebanon, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern or North African hubs. These transshipment stops give cartels additional opportunities to load or shift narcotics before the vessels eventually arrive in Europe. Even trained sniffer dogs struggle to work in these environments, where overpowering smells and chaotic livestock handling mask contraband.

European investigators believe some voyages may carry up to 10 tonnes of cocaine at a time—shipments with a potential street value reaching into the hundreds of millions. Previous seizures, including drugs found hidden in feed silos on livestock vessels, have confirmed the method is not theoretical but an emerging, rapidly evolving smuggling strategy.

For legitimate traders, this trend adds another layer of risk to the already controversial live-animal transport sector. Industry stakeholders should brace for tighter veterinary and customs controls on livestock carriers, more intrusive inspections at key European entry points, and increased scrutiny on vessels flagged under permissive registries.

For shippers, forwarders, and insurers, the warning is clear: livestock vessels are becoming high-risk maritime assets, and any opaque routing through cartel-linked ports should trigger enhanced due-diligence checks.

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