Drug trafficking

More 'blind mules' escaping drug charges

“The drugs aren’t mine. I didn’t know they were there.” It’s a common statement used by people caught with drugs crossing the border, one that authorities for decades have dismissed as a convenient excuse of the guilty. But over the past few years, federal authorities have slowly come to acknowledge the existence of “blind mules” — cross-border travelers who unwittingly carry drugs in their vehicles — and prosecutors have dismissed charges in several recent cases in which it appeared drivers had been duped.