News of
Yanira Maldonado's arrest in Mexico has me thinking. How hard is it to check under your seats while traveling in a bus? I never thought of it either in my many times riding on Greyhound across the country as a teenager and young adult. So even though this is a simple two-second-action, many of us don't even think to do it. The woman claims that she didn't smuggle the several lbs. of marijuana that officials in Mexico accuse her of putting under the bus seat. I'm torn on whether or not I believe her, but let's say for a moment that I do. Her story should certainly go as a warning to all travelers: Check under your seats before you depart! Don't be a mule!
There are plenty of horror stories about travel to and from Mexico involving smuggling and human trafficking. Of course some of those horror stories are either wildly exaggerated
or completely fabricated from the start. Even though there aren't any (easily found) cases of children's bodies being used to smuggle drugs from Mexico, in 2009 shark carcasses were found to be used as dope carrying cases from Mexico. Go figure. And there are even reports of drugs being smuggled directly
inside of breast implants!
The point is: Drug smuggling freaking exists, whether the mules are willing or not. While many cases involve willing mules, it's not at all far fetched to assume that someone could have planted drugs on that bus in hopes of it getting from point A to point B -- and the mother just became an innocent person caught in the middle. What drug smuggler would step up and clear her name only to incriminate himself or his cartel (if one is behind it)? It's not very likely that anyone will come to this woman's aid.
To prevent yourselves from being in this woman's situation, check under your seats when you travel between here and Mexico. If this mother is innocent she failed to check under her seat. In hindsight this simple 2-second-action would have likely saved her all of this grief.
