Criminal organizations are now using food delivery services to transport drugs and other illicit goods as countries lockdown during the global COVID-19 pandemic, Interpol has revealed.
The practice has been reported in countries such as Ireland, Malaysia, Spain and the United Kingdom where delivery drivers have been caught transporting drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, ketamine and ecstasy.
In Ireland, Gardai officers (the police service of the Republic of Ireland) recovered 8 kilograms of cocaine as well as two handguns hidden in pizza boxes.
In some cases, delivery riders work in cahoots with drug dealers for financial gain while in others they have been used as unwitting drug mules.
In one Malaysian case, a food delivery rider contacted police and asked for his food package to be inspected after he became suspicious.
The alert rider had been tasked with delivering a single order of Indian flatbread yet the parcel weighed approximately 11 kilograms.