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Could a Modern Drug Cartel Smuggle Contraband Past the Great Wall of China
Could a Modern Drug Cartel Smuggle Contraband Past the Great Wall of China
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Hey, Josh here, today on The Infographics Show, we’re asking the question that’s been
0:04
on everyone’s mind… Could a drug cartel smuggle contraband past the
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Great Wall of China? Who comes up with this stuff? Remind me to fire my agent.
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Because we’re devoted to authenticity, we sent Henry, one of our most disposable writers,
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to deepest Juarez to ask cartel members what they thought. We haven’t heard from him in a few weeks,
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but he did manage to send back extensive research notes - and possibly a ring finger - on
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how a modern drug-running operation might tackle this challenge. And really, that’s what matters.
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Option 1: Okay, this is the most logical first
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option I could come up with… digging a tunnel. If you were to rank the interests of drug cartels,
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the top three would likely be selling drugs, gruesomely murdering people, and building tunnels.
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The scale of those tunnels will blow you away.
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In 2022, US border patrol discovered a huge tunnel weaving underneath the Mexico/California
0:52
border that was 6 stories deep and the length of 6 football fields. This tunnel, which was 4
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feet (1.2 meters) in diameter, allowed the cartel to move massive quantities of cocaine, meth,
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and heroin from Tijuana. It ran directly beneath some of the most fortified stretches of the U.S.
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border, with the exit hidden in a warehouse in one of San Diego’s industrial areas. There was even
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electricity and ventilation systems, making things a little more comfortable for the smugglers.
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But how could the cartel’s penchant for tunnels
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help them breach the Great Wall with packs of Colombian marching powder?
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If you want to defeat an enemy, you need to attack its weak point. That’s something
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that Sun Tzu would probably sign off on. The Great Wall of China is pretty long,
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as it turns out. Nearly 13,200 miles (21,243 km). And of course,
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defensively, it’s no slouch. Regular garrisons, watchtowers, fortresses, barracks for soldiers,
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and the smoke and fire signaling system we all saw at the start of 1998’s Mulan.
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But sometimes, a structure’s most remarkable feat - its length - can actually be its weakness. And
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while some of the parts of the wall acted as border control for people passing into
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and out of Imperial territory, a lot of the wall is out in the wilderness.
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Assuming the drug cartel has construction equipment, it’s safe to assume that the
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construction of a Narco Tunnel is loud as all hell. Let’s say a very confused,
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time-traveling Chinese Imperial Guard hears heavy machinery roaring about
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a mile from the Great Wall… they’re going to have a few questions, to say the least.
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That’s why I think, if you’re gonna try this at all, tunneling under or through
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the Yan Mountains is the best bet for staying out of sight and out of mind.
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But there’s a problem.
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It’s gonna be a hell of a job, given that the Yan Mountains are made mainly out of limestone,
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granite, and basalt. It’s a pain to get through in Minecraft, let alone in real life.
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Of course, there’s a precedent for building underneath the Great Wall.
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The Chinese themselves did it.
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The “Underground Great Wall of China” is the nickname for a 3,000 mile (4,828 km)series
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of underground tunnels that China uses to store nuclear warheads. But what the
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government of a global superpower can accomplish over decades far
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outstrips what even the wealthiest criminal organization could manage in three months.
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And then there’s that other problem.
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You need a destination on the other end. Like that warehouse in San Diego. But is it really
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worth embedding cartel members, training them in Ming Dynasty-era architecture,
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and having them build structures at the tunnel’s exit just to move the drugs?
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This seems like way more hassle than it’s worth, don’t you think?
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Why spend so much time risking your money and your life trying to
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get under the wall… When you could focus on getting over it instead?
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Option 2:
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Sometimes, you can’t beat a classic.
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And of the many pejoratives you can sling against the cartel - ruthless, violent, sadistic,
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immoral - you definitely can’t call these guys uncreative. They know their history. They’ve even
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used literally medieval methods to bypass border defenses… like the raw power of a humble catapult.
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Back in 2011, border guards in Naco, Arizona,
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must’ve thought they were hallucinating when they saw footage of a pickup truck on the other
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side of the border with an elastic-strung catapult embedded into the back. The Narcos
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planned on using this to fling 4.4 pounds (2 kg) of ganja over the fence. At that point,
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one of the cartel members in Arizona would pick it up and prepare it for distribution.
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And this isn’t even the only way or time this has happened.
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In 2017, a large catapult was found physically attached to the US/Mexico border wall near
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Tucson. This medieval contraption was used to fire two packages of weed,
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weighing 47 pounds (21 kg) in total, right over the wall.
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It makes you wonder how effectively this would translate to the Great Wall.
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And the answer might actually surprise you.
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Post-2017, parts of the US/Mexico borders that have physical walls
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between them sometimes have structures as high as 30 feet (9meters). And clearly,
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drug catapults have had a pretty easy time clearing that. By comparison,
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the average height of the Great Wall of China is 25 feet (7 meters).
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That means any drug catapult that would clear the US border wall would likely
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also clear the Great Wall. And these are light, maneuverable catapults,
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not the massive wooden siege engines of medieval times. It would probably
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be easy to watch the weakest parts of the wall and launch a drug package over.
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The problem is, if you’re close enough to catapult a bale of chronic over the Great Wall - what am I
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even saying? - you’re also close enough to take a shot to the face. So what if you still want to
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launch a drug payload over the wall but keep a safe distance from any patrolling authorities?
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I thought about this too.
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Thankfully, the cartels have an answer for that. Let me introduce… drum roll… The Narco Cannon.
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In 2013, Mexican police found a pickup truck with a large cannon in the back,
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powered by a car engine. It was capable of shooting a 29 pound (13 kg) payload of reefer
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over 500 feet (152 meters). These pneumatic cannons are basically just an expensive,
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overbuilt version of the handheld cannons employees use to shoot t-shirts at baseball games.
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This does seem like a pretty strong option.
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The problem is, there’s a limit to how much contraband you can smuggle this way and it’s not
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exactly subtle. So if you want your customers to get higher, you want to get higher, too. But how?
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Thankfully, I’ve got a plan for that.
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Option 3:
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The Ultralight Aircraft is, objectively, one of the best options on this list.
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And it’s one of the more effective and devilishly difficult to catch methods.
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In 2012, American Homeland Security forked out $100 million to create a bespoke system to help
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them even detect these kinds of stealthy, fast-moving drug smuggling aircrafts.
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They weigh less than 254 pounds (115 kg) and carry 5 gallons (19 liters) of fuel. These craft
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were involved in over 200 incidents between 2008 and 2014. To get a proper mental picture of what
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we’re dealing with here, imagine a glider with an engine and a basket underneath. That basket can
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contain hundreds of pounds of drugs. That’s far more than any catapult or cannon could launch.
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Outside of accidental crashes, which does sometimes happen like an incident in 2009, these
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ultralight aircrafts aren’t designed to land on the other side of the border. They just drop the
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drugs from a great height. When the bundle drops to earth, agents on the other side collect and
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distribute. Chances are, this would both literally and figuratively go completely over the heads of
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anyone on the wall. At most, they’d hear a vague buzzing far above. And even if they noticed,
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it would be nearly impossible to shoot down an ultralight aircraft without targeted weapons.
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So yeah, this is one of the strongest options.
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But let’s think like the cartel and get greedy. The sky is basically wide‑open
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real estate when it comes to moving drugs over the Great Wall. Honestly,
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who wrote this? So is there an even subtler, more effective way to move a stash through the air?
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Option 4:
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You can do so much with drones these days, from filming stupid YouTube videos to blowing
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up weddings in the Middle East. They’re a neutral tool that can be used for good or evil,
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and the cartels are happy to add another notch to that “Evil” column.
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That’s right, drones have become yet another drug-smuggling arrow in the cartel quiver.
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It’s gotten border control so worried that in 2026,
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they invested in a bunch of anti-drone laser guns to deal with them.
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In March 2024, General Gregory M. Guillot, the head of U.S. Northern Command, told Congress
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that over 1,000 drones a month cross the US/Mexico border for either smuggling or
8:00
spying on US law enforcement. Obviously, it goes without saying that the cartels aren’t operating
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US army-style Predator drones that could carry hundreds of pounds of drugs. In 2017,
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a man was caught using a drone to transport 12 packages of meth. Hardly industrial quantities.
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But quantity is the name of the game when it comes to drones, too.
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Rather than sending one ultralight aircraft over the top, they could
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instead send over hundreds of small and cheap drones at once. Each one
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could carry a small parcel of drugs. They could also use drones to distract anyone
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posted on the wall to help make other methods of drug delivery more effective.
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There’s even some precedent for using drones for offensive purposes.
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In October 2025, a cartel drone hit a prosecutor’s office in Tijuana. Who’s to
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say they couldn’t pepper the Great Wall with deadly miniature explosives, too?
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But hey, just for the sake of exploring every element of this utterly deranged scenario,
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let’s look at this from the other side. What if the cartel didn’t have all the
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benefits of modern technology to get around the security of the Great Wall? But first,
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make sure to like, share, and subscribe. Hopefully
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we’ll be able to get Henry back from the cartel sometime soon. #SaveHenry.
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Option 5:
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As Katy Perry once sang, “Baby you’re a--” I can’t do this. Sorry,
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there are some humiliations I just won’t put myself through. Singing Katy Perry in
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a video about Mexican drug cartels smuggling across the Great Wall of China is one of them.
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Anyway, we know that China invented gunpowder,
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and they were the first to do some really interesting things with it.
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That’s why, if you had to find a way to fire drugs over the Great Wall of China,
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it’d make sense to think about using fireworks to do it, right?
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Thankfully, before Henry was taken to the basement of a cartel safe house in Sinaloa Country,
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he was able to compile a list of some of the weaponized fireworks used throughout history.
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There’s the Qi Huo, also known as Rising Fire, which is your pretty basic single-use rocket.
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Theoretically, this could transport a small parcel of drugs directly upwards,
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but it’s not like you can choose where the rocket will go. There’s also the
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possibility that the rocket will explode and destroy the drug parcel.
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The Huo Bao, essentially a paper firecracker, would be completely useless for these purposes.
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The Huo Shu, or Fire Mouse, would also be pretty useless, since it’s a firework that’s designed
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to fly in completely unpredictable directions. Same goes for the Fei Yan, or Flying Swallow,
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which also works on the classic “Never Let Them Know Your Next Move” principle.
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All things considered, fireworks are no replacement for modern technology.
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So without the tech, what’s needed is good, old-fashioned human engineering.
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And how exactly does the cartel specialize in that?
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Option 6:
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The Great Wall of China was meant for many purposes. A garrison for troops,
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a way to scare off enemies, and of course, a border checkpoint for people entering Imperial
10:39
territory. As an epicentre for trade in Asia that likely meant a lot of people moving through,
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providing the Imperial guards on the wall were willing to give them a free pass.
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If you’re looking for a low-tech way to get drugs past the Great Wall - and you’ve got the extremely
10:53
loose morals a career narco requires - there’s one option cartels have relied on for decades…
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Human mules.
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It’s a technique known as “Body Packing”. Drugs are concealed in and around the body
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of a person traveling through a checkpoint. The safest way is to have the drugs held externally,
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strapped to the body of the drug mule. But in the modern day,
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sophisticated drug sniffer dogs make this a riskier move for the product and the mule.
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So modern problems call for modern solutions.
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To avoid the risk of losing a bunch of expensive cocaine, heroin, or meth,
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drug parcels are put into condoms and either the drug mule swallows
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the package or insert it… rectally. Put that on your LinkedIn resume.
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Of course, there are plenty of extreme health risks.
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If the mule digests the condom, or moves in a way that causes it to break, they’re going
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to get a deadly dose of drugs that’ll likely leave them dead in the line at the checkpoint.
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But that’s probably a risk that the cartel would be willing to take,
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especially considering they do it all the time. If a bunch of mules end up foaming out
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of the mouth and convulsing on the ground while the guards wonder what’s even going on… well,
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that’s not the kind of thing that the cartel really cares about. There’s
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always more drugs and there’s always more mules. That’s all that really matters.
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But the human stomach is only so big, right?
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That puts a ceiling on how many drugs the cartel can smuggle, and thus,
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puts a lid on their profits, and that’s no fun at all. How could the cartel use
12:16
human mules to get even bigger quantities of drugs past the Great Wall of China?
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That’s another thing they’ve thankfully developed a deviously ingenious method for…
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Option 7:
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There is almost nothing that the cartel won’t hide drugs in. That’s something
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I’ve discovered in the course of this. It swings rapidly between surprising and
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disgusting in a way that any guards at the Great Wall would never see coming.
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Don’t believe me? Don’t worry, you will.
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Here are a few of the most insane examples I discovered during research.
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In 2016, a drug cartel hid cocaine in breast implants that had recently been surgically
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implanted into a drug mule. Unless a guard was suspicious of a particularly busty citizen,
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it likely wouldn’t be noticed. That same year, a pound (0.5 kg) of meth
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was hidden inside a burrito. A year later, in 2018, Portuguese police intercepted a huge
13:03
quantity of cocaine hidden inside hollowed-out pineapples. And in 2006, because sometimes
13:08
drug cartels can be comically evil, they attempted to smuggle heroin inside puppies.
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Which is, quite frankly, supervillain stuff!
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Still not buying just how creative the cartel can be when it comes to hiding their gear?
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Don’t worry, folks, I’ve got more.
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In Pharr, Texas, a drug cartel hid 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of weed inside
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hollowed out coconuts. The cartel also hid drugs inside of wheels, fake crutches,
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dead snakes, guacamole, candy, horse shampoo bottles, strawberry jam,
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fake carrots, real broccoli, Koi fish… and basically everything you can imagine.
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It probably wouldn’t take the cartel long to figure out which goods are the most innocuous,
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and see who would be happy to add a little cartel supplement to their income.
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Now, let’s ask ourselves another big question:
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Does the Great Wall of China have another weakness that we’re forgetting?
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Option 8:
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By land, by air, and yes, by river and sea, cartels will do literally anything
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they need to do in order to get their drugs to their customers. And this option
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involves exploiting a weakness that you probably didn’t even know about.
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We mentioned earlier that the Great Wall of China stretches across an absurd amount of
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the country. Hence the name. It passes over a lot of terrain from end to end.
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That means it’s going to intersect with a river at some point.
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Two methods of getting the drugs across bodies of water that cartel smugglers have absolutely
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perfected are the Narco-Boats. Even more Bond villain-pilled than that is the Narco-subs.
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Narco-Boats are exactly what you expect, so we won’t dwell on them. Much like the classic
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rum-runners of the prohibition era, these are light-weight, fast-moving speedboats that are
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designed to outrun and zip through the borders set up by coast guards. They’d likely be pretty
14:49
effective for getting through the Jiumenkou water gate. But the narcos are still vulnerable.
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With a Narco-Sub, that’s much less of an issue.
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These devices are almost fully submersible in their modern incarnations. Literally
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no other method lets the cartel move the weight that these Narco-Subs can.
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In 2026, a Narco-sub was intercepted that contained just over 4 tons of cocaine. Imagine how
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many people would need to shove condoms full of cocaine up their butt to move that kind of weight.
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But still, it’s a lot of effort, isn’t it?
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I think there are two more options for what the cartel could utilize… and they wouldn’t
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need a submarine to do it. And believe me when I say, they’re both cartel classics.
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Option 9:
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When it comes to power, you have to remember the golden rule: The one with the gold, rules.
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Cartels are most often widely publicised for their violence. And that’s on purpose. All the elaborate
15:42
murder and torture is really just PR. Just as often, though, they solve problems quietly,
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paying off or threatening officials to make their criminal operations easier.
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It’s the reason why, in a 0 to 100 score with 0 meaning “highly corrupt” and “100”
15:57
meaning “very clean”, Mexico recently scored “27”.
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Which… really isn’t great.
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Cartels know that as much as systems have the power to put them down, a system is
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only as powerful as its weakest member. These guys have a sixth sense for exactly who this
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person is and how to leverage them. There’s no reason at all why transposing the setting
16:18
to the Great Wall would be any different. Weak government officials would be found and bribed,
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and lower level enforcement officials would be leveraged to look the other way.
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Which would leave us wondering, who’d win in an…
16:30
Option 10:
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Ah, now we’re back in business. This is some classic Infographics Show…
16:35
Who would win in a total assault? An invading drug
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cartel, or a force of Ming Dynasty troops garrisoned on the Great Wall of China?
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It’s not nearly as clean-cut as you think.
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Obviously, the Chinese troops would have the numerical and home turf advantage.
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The Nine Garrisons of the Ming Dynasty, arranged all the way across the wall,
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totalled around 300,000 troops. Which is nothing to sniff at.
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Obviously, they wouldn’t all be there at the same time, but with the smoke
17:01
and signal fires from the attack side, they’d soon be on their way. These troops were well
17:06
armored and well-armed for the time. They were equipped with sabers and spears for close range,
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and bows and arrows as well as rudimentary firearms and cannons at long range.
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But despite all that, it’s extremely possible that a smaller force of Narco Soldiers from a
17:20
modern day cartel could win… providing they had their modern day armaments.
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Sicarios have top of the line body armor that would likely render many
17:28
of the Ming Dynasty firearms little more dangerous than your average BB gun. But
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it’s not just the defense, they’re also absolute beasts when it comes to offense.
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Fully automatic rifles and submachine guns, 50 caliber sniper rifles, handguns, the explosive
17:44
drones we were talking about earlier. It’s a level of weaponry so unfamiliar to the warriors
17:48
of Ming China that they’d likely have trouble orienting themselves as soon as the attack began.
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We’ve seen it consistently throughout history. From the Conquistadors to the British colonists
17:58
in North America, that superior weapons technology is often more of a determining factor in conflict
18:04
above the actual size of the armies. Before you start screaming about tactics, it’s worth
18:08
remembering how many of the cartel soldiers were ex-special forces, sometimes even trained by
18:14
elite soldiers in the US. They know everything the Ming soldiers know and everything more.
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Sometimes though, the Cartels don’t get it their own way. Watch Times Cartels Messed With The Wrong
18:24
People to find out what happens when keeping it real goes wrong. Or click on this video instead.
