Cocaine smuggled from America comes complete with "branding": Codes and messages, and this can be dangerous

Photo: MUP, Telegraf, Shutterstock

International narcotics smugglers often put cocaine into packages with clearly printed symbols or logos.

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Although at first glance these seem like bizarre decorations, they are in fact carefully designed codes used by illegal drugs manufacturers, cartels and distribution networks.

They represent a kind of "signature" - that is, symbols that indicate the origin of the drugs, the criminal group they belong to, the quality of the narcotics, and the distribution routes.

Criminal clans often use images of animals, people, objects, or those belonging to certain actual brands, to hide the real message and reduce the risk of exposure in case the drugs are seized. In some cases, these symbols also serve as "drug brands" themselves, providing a visual identity that is easily recognized by users and dealers.

One example of this happened today in Belgrade, when the Serbian police arrested A.P. (30) on suspicion that he trafficked drugs. The police searched the premises used by the suspect and found several packages containing approximately eight kilograms of a substance believed to be cocaine, packaged along with printed photos of a duck.

In this case, the image attached to the packages denotes the so-called "floating quality" - which is a street term sometimes used for drugs of high purity. It can also represent a nickname or the name of the manufacturer, a local gang or an internal code for a specific smuggling route or market.

In addition, high purity drugs can be fatal for addicts who are used to "diluted" narcotic most often available in the streets.

Previous cocaine hauls in Serbia and around the world featured a variety of symbols, including the Bugatti logo - a brand suggestive of luxury and speed - and tihs is likely used to indicate "top goods" in the world of drug smuggling. Likewise, putting the Louis Vuitton logo on cocaine packages can mean "exclusivity".

Sometimes extreme ideological symbols are used to create fear and warn about the brutality of a certain criminal group. Specific symbols are also used within closed groups with ties to extreme ideologies.

But the use of such symbols does not mean that every member of the criminal network is ideologically motivated - instead the images serve as codes, messages or psychological tactics used within a drug network.

(Telegraf.rs)