How security seals can avoid and spot drugs transport

The transport of drugs like cocaine is a global market, where goods are carried through various countries. Drugs are usually hidden among other goods in containers and smuggled by truck or ship. Stakeholders like senders, transporters and recipients of the container are often unaware of the illegal goods hidden in it.

There is no simple solution for solving this complex, worldwide problem. However, Security seals with the right certifications can help in both avoiding and spotting drug transport.

Using security seals for protecting transports

ISO 17712:2013 high security seals have a high breaking strength and cannot be removed by hand. They offer therefore a layer of security for containers against infringement. High security seals, e.g. bolt seals and cable seals, can be removed by special tools and replaced by unwanted guests. These security seals have a unique number which is listed on transportation documents. A mismatch between the number on the seal and number on the transportation documents should therefore sound alarm bells.

A bolt seal’s unique number is printed on both pin and barrel. Drugs traffickers might remove a container’s bolt seal and replace it by using the original pin or barrel with a new one. Hence advice is to check the bolt seal’s number on both pin and barrel. A mismatch between these is a sign of tampering.

On top of these benefits Hoefon’s bolt seals have an anti-spin construction to ensure that locked bolt seals cannot be rotated out. This prevents that seals can be rotated out and can be refixed without breaking. Bolt seals without anti-spin construction can be tampered without evidence as can be seen in the following video.

ISO 17712:2013 high security seals are most often obliged in international maritime transport for being accepted by customs. The can also be applied for securing truck transport. Hoefon Security Seals has a collection of certified high security seals consisting of bolt seals and cable seals. These seals are CTPAT compliant. We are also a producer of HMRC accepted security seals. In addition, our security seals are listed customs seals by, among others, German, Spanish, British and Dutch customs. We ship worldwide. Do you have any questions about our products and how to apply them? Please feel free to contact us. Please also read our article about securing shipping containers.