An INTERPOL alert is warning that criminal organizations are using food delivery services to transport drugs and other illicit goods as countries lock down during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

INTERPOL has received reports from police forces in Ireland, Malaysia, Spain and the UK identifying delivery drivers transporting drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, ketamine and ecstasy.

In early April, the Spanish National Police identified and arrested seven individuals dressed as food delivery drivers in Alicante and Valencia.

The suspects were caught delivering cocaine and marijuana by bicycle, motorcycle and car – some of the drugs had been concealed inside a false bottom of home delivery backpacks.

Cocaine

In Ireland, Gardaí officers recovered eight kilograms of cocaine as well as two handguns hidden in pizza boxes.

Based on these arrests, as well as incidents in other countries, INTERPOL issued a ‘purple notice’ alerting its 194 member countries of this new modus operandi.

Purple notices provide information on objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals – information that law enforcement organizations can access through INTERPOL’s secure I-24/7 communications channel.

Tools

“As criminals continue to adapt their activities to a world upended by COVID-19, INTERPOL’s purple notices are essential tools in enabling police around the world to learn from each other’s successes and address shifting crime patterns,” said Stephen Kavanagh, INTERPOL’s Executive Director of Police Services.

“It is thanks to Spain, and other countries which are sharing vital policing information via INTERPOL that we can ensure law enforcement worldwide is not only kept up-to-date on emerging crime threats but enabled to deal with them,” added Mr Kavanagh.

Countrywide lockdowns have sharply increased demand for home delivered food and delivery drivers are a common sight on otherwise deserted streets.

Complicit

Delivery riders may be complicit or unwitting links in drug transportation.

In cases brought to INTERPOL’s attention, suspects were sometimes falsely disguised as food delivery drivers. At other times, legitimate food deliver drivers knowingly and delivered drugs on behalf of criminal organizations for money. 

Legitimate food delivery drivers have also been used as unwitting drug mules.

Suspicious

In one Malaysian case, a food delivery rider in the Gombak district of Kuala Lumpur contacted police and asked for his food package to be inspected after he became suspicious.

The rider had been tasked with delivering a single order of Indian flatbread yet the parcel weighed approximately 11 kilograms.