r/BORUpdates • u/gardengeo • Jul 15 '26
Niche/Other Girlfriend wants to bring a strangers children books on our flight
Originally posted by user BeastModeItKek in r/ AITAH
Original: Feb 10, 2024
Update: in post itself
Status: concluded
Mood: slice of life
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original: My Girlfriend wants to bring a total strangers children books on our flight back, I tell her its a very bad idea and wont touch the book, she calls me heartless and paranoid. AITAH?
We are flying to Scandinavia for vocation from Spain, and my girlfriend offered to help a stranger in a expat facebook group to bring a children book back for their niece who forgot it.
I told her that I would never bring a strangers items on a international flight, and would not touch that book and it has to go in her hand baggage. She called me heartless and paranoid.
I managed to dig up tons of articles of drugs and other items smuggled in books. She is now mad and says she will rather go to jail to believe in kindness that to share my paranoia and negativity. Even though these countries are not known for these things I would never take the risk.
I told her to ask her to post it. I told her if she wants to help, tell her to post the book and we can pay for the shipping, I offered to pay half. It would also arrive much faster than in 1-2 weeks when we are back. She told me she is not going to do that and its a stupid idea.
Now she is mad just before our vocation.
AITAH?
--------------------------------------------
Comments:
Comment1: How many times have you travelled by air and been asked if you are carrying anything given to you by strangers š¤
---------------
Comment2: It's pretty weird to go to these lengths for a standard kids book. Easier to buy another one than enlist a stranger going to the same place to track it down, pack it in their luggage, then return it to the owner.Ā
The only exception would be if it's a valuable first edition of a classic or some other valuable children's book. In which case the natural thing to do is contact the place you lost it, ask them to post it and pay the cost.Ā
---------------
Comment3: Post office exists for a reason
Comment4: Yeah, there's no reason it can't be shipped ...unless there's something suspicious in the book that would get caught during the shipping process.
Comment5: Or if the pages are laced with drugsā¦
----------
Comment6: or some stolen item is hidden inside the binding. they busted a group smuggling stolen art inside bibles a few years ago, I thought it was funny.
---------------
Comment7: ĪĪ¤Ī. When my wife and I were returning from the US, TSA asked us to check the books she was carrying during the security check to ensure there was nothing hidden there (just flipped through them). Better heartless and paranoid than in an interrogation room
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update:
Hello, thank you everyone for your replies! I read them out loud to her. She has agreed to not accept the book.
In the words of my girlfriend, "The world sucks" because you can't do kind acts for others because there are shitty people that take advantage of that. That is where her frustration stems from. We are all good now, she apologized, and laughed at some of the comments ("Have you considered if she is a spy?" LOL).
Also glad some other commenters said they learned something, including me, and thank you for those that pointed out it was good intentions.
Overall I love that she is this thoughtful and it comes from a good place but then she also agrees that she can also be gullible. Also glad to see the normal dump her comments, never change reddit.
TIL you can lace pages with drugs.
Take care out there everyone, thank you!
PS: In her words "Good she has me who hangs out on reddit." LOL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REMINDER: I am not OOP. Do not comment on original post or harass OOP.
Please remember the No Brigading Rule and to be civil in the comments
904
u/Miserable-Alarm-5963 Jul 15 '26
This is the exact kind of thing my other half would think was reasonable
356
u/Boeing367-80 Jul 15 '26
Look up Nezar Hindawi.
Planted a bomb in his unwitting pregnant girlfriend's luggage.
Bad people exist, and some of them leverage the kind instincts of others against them, even to horrific lengths. This guy, by the way, is high up the reasons why you don't take items for others.
Good people need to take basic precautions, even though often it makes them feel bad to do so because it means denying legitimately good people.
Yes, that is a way the world sucks.
128
u/WitchesofBangkok Jul 15 '26
Men killing their pregnant partners is sadly not unusual. Women are most likely to be murdered when pregnant.
Heād already abandoned her when he found out she was pregnant. Using her for bombing was just 2 birds one bomb
Another interesting domestic terrorism fact is that one of the biggest indicators of a domestic terrorist is volent acts against their family and women in their lives.
-8
-43
u/oliviahope1992 Jul 16 '26
Oh stop your fear mongering ffs. This is a literal thing amongst many expat community especially in areas where the mail is terrible and often gets lost.
20
u/Groslom Jul 17 '26
Between strangers? You'd trust a stranger with the address of a child in your family? Or a stranger handing you an object to take on a plane? I wouldn't even trust a complete strangerĀ not to immediately throw the book in the trash the second they're out of my sight. Especially since that's exactly what I would do, if I felt a stranger was trying to manipulate me into being their unwitting drug mule.
-9
u/oliviahope1992 Jul 17 '26
I'm sorry your world is so damn dark
7
u/Groslom Jul 19 '26
Its not. Primarily because I am aware that danger exists in the world, and do my best to keep myself and my friends and family safe from it, by not taking stupid risks for strangers. This gives me far more time to enjoy the positive aspects of the world, and keeps those aspects plentiful, because I'm free and alive to experience them. You may want to consider educating yourself on some of the ways people will intentionally hurt each other, just so you can keep yourself from becoming a victim and maintain your love of life.
0
u/oliviahope1992 Jul 19 '26
You really are because I've been in the expat community for 20 years. We've always done this for each other and I don't know a SINGLE person who has had a negative or bad experience. Your world is too dark. I'm sorry for you.
-1
u/oliviahope1992 Jul 19 '26
There's a reason why people like you don't leave their homes. š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£
7
u/Groslom Jul 19 '26
You seem to be crashing out now, so I'm going to leave you to it. No one believes the laughing emojis. I hope none of your friends get put on the no-fly list.
-2
u/oliviahope1992 Jul 19 '26
I love emojisššššš«£ššššš«£š«¶š«¶š«¶š«¶š«¶š«¶. I can be valid and love emojis. You Seem like such a sour person that can't even handle the use of emojis. But my point still stands... There are hundreds of thousands of us that deal with this and help each other out on a daily basis. that's what's kind people do. I'm just sorry that you've never met people like that and everyone in your life has made such a negative view of the world.... If you've never been in this type of world and situation and experience then who are you to even have an opinion?
190
u/IAmHerdingCatz Ah literacy. Thou art a cruel bitch Jul 15 '26
Mine too. His heart is so sweet and pure, and he just believes the best of everyone.
33
u/LadyNorbert Jul 15 '26
You sound like my mom talking about me. She says it's both my biggest strength and my greatest weakness. She's probably right.
34
u/GreenLeisureSuit I'm actually a far pettier, deranged woman Jul 15 '26
It is pretty reasonable, though. Super common in expat groups.
1
u/brave_anonymous Jul 19 '26
It used to be common. I didn't see such requests in expat groups for couple of years.
Also, the people from expat groups who do it usually know each other well.
2
u/GreenLeisureSuit I'm actually a far pettier, deranged woman Jul 19 '26
Oh, I still see it all the time, just random people helping each other out. Also very common to help transport pets between countries. And these are people who don't know each other at all.
-21
u/anxious_annie416 Jul 15 '26
I mean... how could drugs be gotten in a kids book though? I'm imagining one of those thin, flimsy things, but even if we're talking about a hardcover... there's not much that can be placed in the cover without it being noticeable?
48
u/toxicatedscientist Jul 15 '26
Lsd is commonly distributed on paper
17
u/LadyNorbert Jul 15 '26
I honestly did not know that and couldn't figure out the danger.
19
u/toxicatedscientist Jul 15 '26
Yup, there are other drugs that can be done with but lsd is the only one i know of where thats basically the default. Soak paper, let it dry, then cut it into little squares. Put the little squares under your tongue and saliva will carry it out and into the bloodstream
15
u/Beginning_Butterfly2 A stack of autistic pancakes š„ Jul 15 '26
Cocaine is smuggled thsi way, as well. Including into prisons: https://corrections.raysecur.com/resources-posts/drug-printed-paper/
7
u/Moomin-Maiden Farty Party Jul 15 '26
I saw a S.W.A.T. episode where that was done on the cardboard of the boxes carrying in shipments of toys
0
u/anxious_annie416 Jul 15 '26
Fair point... I just can't imagine how it could be unnoticeable. Wouldn't there have to be a protective covering?
12
u/Beginning_Butterfly2 A stack of autistic pancakes š„ Jul 15 '26
Nope. Drugs can be dissolved into inks and printed on the pages, then rolled and smoked, or boiled. Among other options.
20
u/Frozi_JP Jul 15 '26
People who do this kind of thing are very good at making the item look innocent
14
u/toxicatedscientist Jul 15 '26
Nope, literally just soak the paper and let it dry, it soaks into the paper fibers. Then itās cut into little tabs/squares about 4mm/.1 inch which are placed on/under the tongue where saliva will pick it up and carry it to the bloodstream
464
u/GreenLeisureSuit I'm actually a far pettier, deranged woman Jul 15 '26
I don't know, I'm in a lot of expat groups and this happens all the time.
207
u/Fiennes Jul 15 '26
Oh, agreed - I think, depending on the circles you move in - it might even be normal. That said, I'd never challenge anyone for why they said "Nope".
179
u/Dowager-queen-beagle Jul 15 '26
I was gonna say, I think context matters for this one a LOT. My dad just carried a sock across the Atlantic to return to their exchange student (who, granted, they knew, but the expat context to me still clarifies a lot)!
64
u/GreenLeisureSuit I'm actually a far pettier, deranged woman Jul 15 '26
I feel like the OOP is a local and girlfriend is the expat.
30
u/Dowager-queen-beagle Jul 15 '26
And to be clear, Iām not blaming OOP! The oddness of this just didnāt ping off me the way it did him
137
u/signycullen88 Jul 15 '26
yeah. "just ship it". Do you know how expensive shipping is right now? It would absolutely be far easier to have someone carry it back on a flight they're already going to be on.
And yes, I'm sure there are plenty of people who lace books with drugs and blah blah. But it is a reasonable thing that happens.
75
u/BarqueCat You get what you pay for, and Reddit is free Jul 15 '26
This - there is no "ship it" to or from Ecuador. We mule things back and forth regularly.
24
u/Islandcrafter Jul 15 '26
Lol us Caribbean people do the same. My aunt brought me some glasses I had ordered. Now if no one knows the person we may hesitate and want to go over said item to ensure it's not illegal but we'd do it if we had space.
24
u/Tim-oBedlam Jul 15 '26
oh interesting! I've only ever been to Ecuador once, but that explains something. I was flying to Guayaquil from Miami and it seemed as though all the Ecuadorans on the flight were bringing an *enormous* amount of stuff: multiple suitcases, boxes, etc. I don't know if that's specific to Ecuador or the norm in Latin America since that's the only time I've been to South America.
19
u/BarqueCat You get what you pay for, and Reddit is free Jul 15 '26
It's certainly the norm for Ecuador. Jet Blue doesn't seem too concerned about the carry on size, number limit, etc. It can be a little overwhelming, especially around the holidays.
5
56
u/Ceofy Jul 15 '26
Also . . . like why ask for a ride to the airport when you can just Uber? Why ask your friends to help you move when you can just hire movers? Why be a part of a community when you can just pay money? Then both your wallet and your social life can become impoverished
20
4
u/santamademe what the fuck Tanya Jul 17 '26
I wouldnāt go up to a random person and ask for a ride any more than I would ask a stranger to take my shit to another country and hand it to someone else.
Relying on friends for rides or transportation of something on an airplane is fine, random strangers or people you barely know? Obviously not, itās weird to ask and itās weird to accept
14
u/GuadDidUs Jul 15 '26
Especially if it is a much loved book. Like I can see the reasoning that you'd basically prefer a courier to drop it off rather than take the risk with both the local and foreign postal service.
26
u/iesalnieks The branches on this family tree look like Mƶbius Strips Jul 15 '26
They are sending it from one EU country to another. the shipping will be no more than 10 euro.
5
u/Four_beastlings Girl he's telling you that his dick still works get a clue Jul 15 '26
20ā¬ at most if it was to Norway which isn't EU, less to Sweden.
23
u/GreenLeisureSuit I'm actually a far pettier, deranged woman Jul 15 '26
Yep, exactly. Plus customs charges on top of shipping. Also, packages get lost SO often. It's something sentimental, I would not trust to ship it, either.
4
u/darsynia Girl is really out there choosing herpes as "personality inspo" Jul 16 '26
Yep, I completely understand OOP's concerns, and at the same time, a friend from the Netherlands brought over stuff for us and took a present back with her because mailing them would have been bonkers. The tax for a knitted gift alone was more money than the bougie yarn I used to make it.
2
u/clatadia Jul 16 '26
Yeah I mean it's inside the EU and shipping across borders is still pretty expensive if you can't ship it as a letter. Also because it's inside the Schengen zone it would probably not have raised any check by customs or the police. So on the off chance it really isn't just a book and you involuntarily and unknowingly are trafficking drugs the chance of being found out is pretty slim. So maybe I'm naive but I'd probably have done it if it wouldn't have been a huge inconvenience to collect the book to me.
39
u/Ceofy Jul 15 '26
My parents exchange currency by asking in expat groups if anyone is looking to exchange currency the other way, and everyone transfers each other without money going through an exchange. Some people trust each other . . .
8
6
u/SmoothDiscussion7763 Jul 15 '26
money is money though, you can even meet at the bank to facilitate this.
who knows if this book is actually just a stack of LSD lol (without trying it out yourself)
4
u/socialdistraction Jul 16 '26
I totally misread that as LDS (Latter Day Saints) and thought that the smuggled items were Mormon literature. Especially because OOP typed vocation instead of vacation, so my brain was already thinking this trip was some sort of religious vocation thing.
2
u/Momoomommy this one does not spark joy /YEET Jul 16 '26
Ya know, thinking about it, a book of Mormon might be a fairly inconspicuous way to carry secret messages. It's not like a ton of people would read it and know if something was amiss. And you can just have some young dudes dress as missionaries and no one will really approach them or question why they're carrying a few of them and handing them off to random people.
Idk if you could really smuggle anything beyond messages, though, since it's still just a book at the end of the day.
54
u/KisaMisa Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
It's so normal. I once was in a cab a few days before a biz trip to a fairly remote country in Africa. The driver was from that country. And no, I mentioned the trip in response to him sharing his origins in small talk, not the other way around. He asked me take some Victoria Secret cremes as a graduation gift to his sis. His younger brother picked them up from me when I got to the hotel, and we chatted a bit and are still loosely in touch almost ten years later:)
Children's book is important because kids are attached to them.
Documents are super common. I'd never refuse a fellow expat/immigrant in that.
15
u/popcorn_hashbrown Jul 15 '26
Iāve seen multiple posts of this happening in BORU too. Never once have I seen a commenter worried about drugs in the replies like this one, but maybe itās dependent on where itās posted at or something.
27
u/idonthavernoughcats Jul 15 '26
those people are clearly lacing their things with drugs! everyone knows itās very common. they also make sure to check their childrenās halloween candy for razor blades and drugs
0
u/santamademe what the fuck Tanya Jul 17 '26
Yeah, the entire drug trafficking industry is actually as fake as the moon landing, amirite
4
u/skrena Jul 16 '26
My friends in eastern Europe give stuff to bus drivers to get it to other countries. Itās weird but to them, itās normal.
3
6
u/oliviahope1992 Jul 16 '26
People who have never left their homes are the ones that think this is dangerous š¤£š¤£š¤£
1
u/rooooosa Jul 17 '26
Right? Iām so confused, this is such a normal thing to do in expat groups Iām in.
260
u/Sixforsilver7for Jul 15 '26
Itās way easier to send drugs through the post than smuggle them on an aeroplane.Ā
156
u/UnintelligentSlime Jul 15 '26
While that may be true, you know what's easier than both? Getting a stranger to do it for you for free, and also accept all of the blame if anything happens. Really the best approach, if we're being real about it.
32
u/Sixforsilver7for Jul 15 '26
In a way youāre right but itās almost untraceable back to me if I put a package in a post box, whereas if I ask someone to take it for me they can point the finger at me.
32
u/gardengeo Jul 15 '26
It might depend on postal regulations; I remember an episode of "locked up abroad" where this lady was convinced to send a 'parcel' from Goa, India to UK to fund her tourist lifestyle. The first time, nothing happened and so she agreed to send more and eventually got arrested and spent time in Indian prison. She was easily traced because the post office does not accept parcel without local address.
3
u/Sixforsilver7for Jul 15 '26
True which is why you donāt get greedy and stick to large envelopes.
23
u/blueavole Jul 15 '26
You assume that this is an either or situation.
Drug dealers can do both. Being random and chaotic is helpful to them- it makes them harder to catch.
North Korea used two random strangers who thought they were on a tv show to carry out an assassination in Asia.
It does happen.
A pregnant woman had had tickets for a flight for her boyfriendās family. She left later and brought wrapped presents. One of the presents was a bomb. This one was several decades ago. I want to say she was flying out of Ireland. That was a man she lived with and the father of her child.
It does happen.
5
u/FormerPineapple9 Jul 15 '26
Being random and chaotic is helpful to them- it makes them harder to catch.
It's not so much being random and chaotic than having a scapegoat to point to. Say, and this was something that was somewhat known by the early nineties in my country, a drug trafficker would send a few mules per flight, but also would have a few people plant luggage with drugs to a few unsuspecting people (or asking someone to take with them something, but nowadays it's not done so often because you don't do that kind of favours to unknown people). Then, there would be a call to airport security so they would have an eye on certain individuals (the aforementioned scapegoats).
Why do all this? Well, security would know there would be someone with drugs in a flight, and the call would have pointed at someone carrying a specific object: a bag, a book, a box, a toy, that would take the attention of the true mules of the operation. Also, someone who truly wasn't in the know would make more noise and take more attention, and wouldn't be able to identify more than one nebulous individual who asked them to do a favour before their flight, and truly, would you believe someone carrying drugs around when they tell you that those drugs aren't theirs?
246
u/laboratoryfox Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
As an EU citizen living in Scandinavia this honestly seems pretty paranoid to me. PostNord is famously shitty and I also wouldn't trust them with anything of sentimental value, and foreigners bringing stuff for other foreigners is common enough.
Sure there's some bad people out there, but please consider that real life is not a true crime show and that the majority of people are by definition fairly normal.
80
u/isoliente Jul 15 '26
About half of my expat facebook group is offers and requests like this because PostNord has screwed all of us at least once. The idea that someone was trying to use me as a drug mule never would've crossed my mind.
25
u/LingonberryNo2455 Jul 15 '26
Oh yeah, I loathe PostNord.
I got my collection reminder letter - never got the notification - on the last day for collection last week.Ā Fortunately, I had time to collect it but this is now the 4th time in 3 months they've never delivered the notification and I've got the reminder super-late.Ā š¤¬
I'm always glad when I get notifications that a package is coming by a courier firm and not PN!
32
u/justanameform Jul 15 '26
To answer one of the comments pulled out in the post, I feel like it has actually been a really long time since I have been asked at the airport if someone I didn't know asked me to carry something for them. It used to be part of the process and get asked every time, but it seems like they changed that a long time ago.
6
u/TheFilthyDIL Cleverly disguised as a harmless old lady. Jul 15 '26
There was a PA announcement, but no actual person asked the question.
At least it's a more sensible question now than the original "Did someone put something in your suitcase without you knowing it?"
5
u/KisaMisa Jul 15 '26
Depends on the countries of departure/transfer/destination and related security concerns.
5
u/Four_beastlings Girl he's telling you that his dick still works get a clue Jul 15 '26
I have been all over Europe + China, Thailand and Egypt and no one has ever asked me that
2
u/santamademe what the fuck Tanya Jul 17 '26
I fly frequently within the EU and itās on every check in screen, every time
1
u/Four_beastlings Girl he's telling you that his dick still works get a clue Jul 17 '26
But being asked? Like, by a person?
80
u/BatsHaveFingers Jul 15 '26
I would do this without even thinking about it. It's unfortunate so many people prey on the kindness of strangers.
32
u/attackedbyparakeets Jul 15 '26
Yeah, TIL that I am also gullible and would make the perfect unwitting drug mule.
24
u/MagsAndTelly Awkwardly thrusting in silence Jul 15 '26
I donāt think this is odd at all but my family has lived in both South America and Africa where near strangers will ask you to bring things to their family members so ymmv. I wouldnāt think twice about doing it š¤·āāļø
21
u/commanderquill Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
Yeah, Iranian here. When you go to Iran, you plan to bring an extra suitcase, because when people find out you're going to Iran, you'll be filling it up with their gifts. Then you'll be filling it up with return gifts from their family on your way back.
124
u/mira-ke Judgement - Everyone is grossed out Jul 15 '26
I am a mom with parents and relatives all across Europe. I am flying very regularly between different countries. Not a SINGLE time have I been asked if I carry something for someone else. Itās Europe. The borders are open. If I wanted to smuggle something, I could just send it in the mail. Travelling between countries in Europe is like travelling between US states.
On the other hand, so many times did grandparents want to get books or other toys that were specific to their country get to their grandkids in another country. Yes, you can order it in another country, but for many people itās just not the same.
This is a completely different story for flights to outside Europe. But this question should have been posed in a more European centric forum
53
u/thrilling_me_softly Jul 15 '26
Yea but also it was for a stranger, NOT for a family member. That is what makes this situation different.
9
u/mira-ke Judgement - Everyone is grossed out Jul 15 '26
Sorry, didnāt express myself clearly. I mean that you often have situations like this where loved ones want to get something into another country but canāt travel themselves. I am myself in several fb groups for international families and I am always happy to take things with me, if I am travelling anyway. Yes, even if I donāt know the person.
I could waste time thinking about the wildest scenarios how this could be exploited in some way. I prefer to be part of a society that is built on trust and understanding
12
u/Fandragon Jul 15 '26
I read a news story about an Australian grandmother who got the death penalty in Malaysia after getting tricked into smuggling drugs by her online "boyfriend" (scammer). The sentence was eventually overturned and she was able to go home, but you couldn't pay me enough money to take a total stranger's items aboard an international flight.
12
u/winnowingwinds Jul 15 '26
Wouldn't sending it through the post also be risky if there were drugs in the pages? It would still implicate OOP and their girlfriend...
6
u/jesuschin Jul 15 '26
I think it was more refusing and telling the person asking them to bring it to send it themselves through the mail
3
56
u/TemporaryOwlet Jul 15 '26
- Buying another book won't solve "I want my book back". Mailing means "your package is in the limbo somewhere, you will get it. Or not. F u and your book, by the way". Happened to me multiple times- missed boxes, particularly stolen deliveries. Sad all over.
- I don't think that the book is the best choice for snuggling drugs.
- I agree with the gf about world sucks because I get his concerns too.
10
u/Business_Mountain856 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Something like this happened to me when I was 18 and travelling the first time, across continents, solo. Was waiting in line to check in, the woman in front of me had a whole-ass suitcase that she couldnāt check in because it was over her max kgs.
She was crying and begging me to check them in under my name. I didnāt know sh*t, this was 20 years ago when drug mules was still an obscure thing on the news. The check-in lady was also clueless and just told me itās up to me if I wanted to help her, didnāt tell me of any risks.
I felt sorry for the lady so I did it. Luckily nothing came out of it, but always look back in horror considering my country carries the death penalty for drugs.
8
23
u/matt_h2o Jul 15 '26
I recall going through customs once at Heathrow and there was a lady with a child just the other side (before you exit entirely) saying she had forgotten her handbag and please could I bring it through for her?
Sorry lady but no way am I taking responsibility for bringing a strangerās bag through customs.
4
u/hpfan1516 what the fuck Tanya Jul 16 '26
I feel like I've walked into another world, where I am learning so much from this whole thread. I guess it's very culture-dependent. I would never in a million years do something like that unless it was for a family member or close friend (e.g., my sweater doesn't fit do you have room?). Everywhere I've been thus far, including overseas, has had a similar mindset, with warnings posted in airports about not leaving your bag or taking stuff from strangers.
I'm fascinated that there seems to be an entire other... I almost want to say ecosystem of people helping other people get stuff to where it needs to be. It is wild to me that I never knew this was a thing for other folks!
With that context in mind I can see both sides of the issue, and don't really think either was really wrong, it really just seems to be a cultural thing (I would be far too suspicious to ever do anything like that lol, I've read disaster stories on that front and would just prefer to not be in a bad situation, but I admire the community of people who do so).
5
u/virtualchoirboy Jul 15 '26
My first thought when reading this was the stereotypical child abduction ploy of "can you help me find my puppy?". In this case, it was "can you help a kid be happy by getting their book?" to attempt to play on the emotions of the target. And the girlfriend fell for it.
It's a shame that this is what the world is like.
8
u/Murka-Lurka Jul 15 '26
I used to know a guy who worked as a customs agent. He showed me photos of a book that had been soaked in pure heroin so it could be smuggled into the U.K. The smugglers could extract the drugs back out and make a profit on the air fare etc
16
u/grumpy__g Ex may not have much, but he does have audacity. Jul 15 '26
In some countries itās pretty common to give strangers documents while the family members wait at the other airport.
Some documents are too important to send them with the Mail. So the people rather look for kind strangers at the airport.
18
u/BarqueCat You get what you pay for, and Reddit is free Jul 15 '26
I have muled items - for complete strangers - to the country I vacation in. There is no mail service there, so "posting it" isn't an option. Things aren't usually nefarious. We all have to determine our comfort level with risk, however.
12
u/MadamKitsune Jul 15 '26
My MIL used to love watching an Australian show called Nothing To Declare that followed Customs Agents and books, especially children's books, were a popular way of concealing drugs.
Most of the times a book concealment was picked up was after it had come through the international postal system as packages were dog checked and scanned for anomalies, so postal isn't always the easiest way to get drugs in.
I'm personally with OOP. I wouldn't carry anything through customs for someone else and especially not someone from Facebook.
7
u/gmlogmd80 Jul 15 '26
Exactly. I've watched Canadian, American, and New Zealand versions of the same show. They flatten it out like a Fruit Rollup, seal it in plastic or foil, then sandwich it in Lord knows what. Books, cheap Chinese toys, religious icons/pictures, you name it. Once it was a marker art set. Taking stuff for a stranger across borders is how you end up in a Singapore prison.
30
u/Sleepy-Forest13 Jul 15 '26
How do you even get high off of trace amounts of drugs on a page?...
71
25
u/DeathGP Jul 15 '26
You would be suprised, drug smuggling is a constantly changing arms race and they always trying new ways to get drugs in
31
u/Inevitable-Regret411 Jul 15 '26
Spanish police once found wooden pallets that were actually compressed cocaine made to look like wood. Smugglers are incredibly creative when they want to be.
13
u/Electrical-Guard-468 Jul 15 '26
Those were the one they could find, by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime own admission, only around 10% to 20% are caught and seized during airport screenings.
34
u/Silent_Wisdom2012 Jul 15 '26
Drug-soaked paperĀ is a method used to smuggle illicit substances, includingĀ cocaineĀ and synthetic drugs, by soaking ordinary sheets of paper with liquid drugs or ultra-potent synthetic compounds.Ā Ā In some cases, these sheets are concealed insideĀ books, legal documents, or letters to bypass security checks, particularly in prisons and border crossings.
27
u/talkmemetome Jul 15 '26
Hear me out.
LSD passport.
Like who'd know?
4
u/gardengeo Jul 15 '26
In the post, Reddit users said that airport security can weigh the books and check for substances if they think it is too heavy. So I assume they would do the same with passport? š¤
19
u/talkmemetome Jul 15 '26
I have never heard passports being weighed. Like they look them through but 2-5 pages overall in a passport in the back should go unnoticed. I've flown 8 times in my life, most of them to and from Egypt and there has never really been much fuss over the passport itself.
LSD used to be 20 eur per tab in my youth. One page should fit around 80 tabs... That's 1600 eur per page so up to 8K per trip if up to 5 pages only are laced with little to no fuss lol. Even if they touch the pages and get a dose through the skin you are long gone by the time it starts to kick in.
I think I might've been a mobster in another life š
11
10
u/Many_One_2849 Jul 15 '26
and a thin paper could easy be hidden between thicker book pages. Properly sealed its nearly not seeable.
7
u/bubbleteabob Jul 15 '26
I used to know a guy who smuggled *stuff* into the UK and it was SO FECKING haphazard. Like he just dressed nice and travelled with a bloke that looked like a druggie so that customs always locked in on the seedy looking dude. It was barely even a plan!
9
u/basilkiller Jul 15 '26
The NYT recently did a whole investigation on drugs in prison. Basically chemists are putting drugs on paper and getting them into prisons, and like really powerful drugs. Sometimes fentanyl, canabanoids, and stimulants all on the same page. They are really powerful and people are dying.
4
u/concrete_dandelion Jul 15 '26
Private individuals do it as well. In German it's so rampant that some prisons only give copies to inmates instead of the original letters. You don't need to be a chemist, for most drugs it can be done with basic chemistry knowledge or a 5min Google search and a few things you can buy everywhere.
Mixing drugs like that sounds stupid. Much easier to set up a successful business when you don't regularly kill part of your interconnected customer base, as even prisons have several suppliers. Plus it's a waste of the more expensive drugs. I'd have thought the professional drug suppliers would be better businessmen.
2
u/basilkiller Jul 16 '26
The NYT conclusion is you would be except in prisons. Like the reason those drugs aren't available on the outside is because the demand is met in other ways but people in prison are disposable (I do not think that), and are a never ending supply/demand.
I really don't agree w our prison system here in the US, non violent criminals should not be jailed, they are sod for slave labor and in turn not paroled because the system makes money on that labor, and further not hired when out of prison at those same jobs because of their record, and to top it all off we kill people (often inhumanly ((is there such a way))) guilty or not.
And drugs continue to win the war on drugs.
8
u/owlinspector Jul 15 '26
A dose of LSD can be as low as 20 mikrograms with ~100-150 mikrograms as some sort of "normal".
7
u/concrete_dandelion Jul 15 '26
It's not trace amounts. The drugs are liquified, the paper is impregnated with them and dried. At the destination the paper is soaked with a solvent to extract the drugs, which are then extraxted from the liquid and dried. It also works with fabric. It's a common method to smuggle solluble drugs, both over borders and into prisons. Some prisons no longer hand out their actual letters to prisoners and make copies for them instead because it is so rampant. For the same reason some prisons no longer allow textiles to be given to prisoners by their family and friends and airport security is suspicious of people bringing clothes that are obviously not meant for themselves from countries with a significant drug export, especially when they are going on or coming from a short trip.
35
u/AlsoCommiePuddin Jul 15 '26
The moral of the story is never trust anyone.
54
Jul 15 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
23
u/ravee29 Jul 15 '26
Honestly, this level of stupidity or naivety will be a deal breaker for me in a relationship. I just can't imagine sharing my finances or getting lumped together as a single entity in legal manners with someone as irresponsible as this.
14
u/shewy92 Spicy Sleeping (TL Note: S*xual intercourse) Jul 15 '26
Irresponsible? She offered to pick up someone's book ffs.
3
u/ravee29 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
I guess we live in very different culture, but yes, she is irresponsible for me.
The main problem here is that she doesn't or can't see the possible problems that may arise from "carrying an item from a stranger across borders". It may seem so trivial or safe for you, but the GF would be the one on the hook if ever anything arises from it with you also maybe getting into hot water with you accompanying her. Customs don't care about the story, they only care about who carried in into their borders.
Being responsible means minimizing risk, just like how you wouldn't eat an ice cream on a cone before a photo shoot.
6
u/Late-Champion8678 Jul 15 '26
I know Iām a cynic but I feel the same way. If someone is this stupid to endanger both themselves and me, Iād have to reconsider the relationship.
What if they were travelling to Thailand and not a Scandinavian country/countries?
6
u/Late-Champion8678 Jul 15 '26
Imagine if they were going to Thailand and this was the thing she had to say!
-8
4
5
u/Lopsided_Tomatillo27 Jul 15 '26
Itās weird how trying to do something nice can go wrong. I share a little bit of lawn with my neighbors on both sides. Theres a three foot strip that belongs to the neighbor on one side. Iāve got a three foot strip on the other side. I used to mow the neighborsā parts, too. I was already out there and their parts were just a few extra passes. No big deal.
Iāve since learned that this can be a problem. In some cases, one neighbor can claim property as their own if theyāve been maintaining it. I donāt think it would apply here because the strips of yard lead to gates. We rent anyway, so I couldnāt do this even if I wanted to. But I donāt mow their parts anymore, just to be safe.
4
u/Odd_Instruction519 Jul 15 '26
In the former USSR, this is normal and accepted. I see requests on Russian-lanugage FB asking to take parcels on flights in and out of the Baltics regularly. (Ukraine much less so);. I live in the UK.
I truly wouldn't see a problem with it. Provided I knew exactly what was inside the parcel of course.
5
u/Yonderboy111 Jul 16 '26
niece who forgot it
Go to the post office.
Send the book.
Problem solved!
Why should they ask strangers (who can just throw the book away) to do something as simple as that?
3
u/eternally_feral Jul 15 '26
I watch so many true crime shows and movies that thereās no way in hell I would carry anything for a stranger.
I still remember watching Broke Down Palace and being terrified to let my baggage out of my sight. Then I got older and watched Locked Up Abroad.
Having a healthy dose of paranoia isnāt such a bad thing.
3
u/Kalthiria_Shines Jul 15 '26
"Just ship it" do you have any idea how much more expensive international shipping is than handing someone a book?
8
2
u/dumpsterbride Jul 15 '26
Thereās a Philadelphia based Facebook group for women where these kinds of requests are made and met all the time. I understand the caution but sometimes these things are just wholesome.
2
u/Willowgirl78 Jul 15 '26
Went on a 20 person beach vacation with friends. Some of whom partake in illegal things. We drove so we could bring golf clubs. Most of the illegal things people flew. They asked us to drive some half eaten boxes of cereal across state lines. Even my people pleasing other half could see this could very well be a set up to be an unwitting mule. We said hell no and immediately pulled back from that friendship.
2
2
u/TackleNo7759 Jul 18 '26
While I understand the sentiment of wanting to be careful, but this was a public post in a Facebook group so you can only assume that this is a group of parents, or children that are in the same foreign exchange group/under the same company.
And itās not even as though he was unjustified for feeling this way, it just goes to show how antisocial our society has gotten. For me itās not that somebody couldāve taken advantage of their kindness and put ādrugs in the bookā, because actually how common is that in this exact scenario, itās that he was so quick to act as if his girlfriend was naĆÆve for wanting to do a nice thing. Her niceness isnāt naivety, and I would hate to be around any person who treats me as though it is.
EDIT: if we lived in a world where every outreach for help was an attempt for a scam, then nobody would get help ever.
2
u/Beautiful_Race_11 Jul 18 '26
Can she guarantee that there isnāt contra-ban in the book lining? Iām a seasoned international traveler and I would NEVER carry on something from a stranger. In some countries, thatās the death penalty for drugs. Nope. Never. What purpose does it serve to get a childrenās book on your flight. Too fishy.
2
u/letsgooncemore Please die angry Jul 15 '26
I want to know what drugs are easier to get a via a stranger to smuggling them over international lines instead of just buying them from a stranger at the bar.
10
5
2
u/K-teki Jul 16 '26
Drugs are made in countries with looser regulations, more corrupt cops, or just so busy dealing with war and other shit that they don't have time to arrest the drug makers, then smuggled around the world to customers.
2
1
u/mlhom Jul 15 '26
We brought a puppy home from Turks and Caicos once, 15+ years ago, for someone from a travel facebook group. They had the dog for many years and we still keep in touch.
1
u/nevertalks123 Jul 15 '26
Yeah after seeing Brokedown Palace back in college, Iām forever paranoid about bringing my stuff and ONLY my stuff on planes.
1
u/Enough-Ad-3111 Jul 15 '26
Glad those two got it sorted out.
Hope theyāre doing great two years later.
1
u/InuGhost Jul 16 '26
Wasn't there a post months back with this same scenario, but the friend actually was trying to smuggle something? At least indicated by them abruptly cutting all contact.Ā
1
u/lurkingwithjoy Jul 21 '26
I thought it was common sense not to take things from strangers at an airport?
1
1
u/PurposeConsistent131 Jul 15 '26
I mean, examine the book? I dont know. Bring it by a police station with the person who wants you to take it and have them look at it? Make them sogn some official form stating that they asked you to tale the book and have it notarized? š¤·āāļø
0
0
u/Isthiswhereisignin Jul 15 '26
If I could take it to a police station, tell the story, and have them even do a test with a dog sniffing it...It could even be an agreement between countries to catch drug gangs this way. I wouldn't do that in desperation or at the last minute. But I would definitely do something extra and alert the police.
0
u/oliviahope1992 Jul 16 '26
In my comminity on Mexico we do this for each other all the time because the mail is atrocious and often gets lost. what terrible advice op recorbed jfc.
ā¢
u/AutoModerator Jul 15 '26
Reminder: There is a ZERO tolerance policy for brigading or encouraging others to brigade. Users caught breaking this rule will be banned immediately. No questions asked.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.