How Smuggling Human Beings Across The Border Has Become More Lucrative Than Drugs

Cartels have discovered that human smuggling is as profitable, if not more so, than narcotics trafficking. Unlike drugs, people essentially “pay their own way”—migrants hand over thousands of dollars upfront for passage, creating instant revenue streams without the need for costly supply chains or production. U.S. officials estimate that cartels pulled in billions annually from this business, with a single run of 100 migrants potentially generating over $1 million. In fact, by 2021, human smuggling profits were estimated at around $13 billion, rivaling or surpassing drug revenues.

The appeal lies in both profit and reduced risk. Drug loads can be seized and destroyed, but migrants—desperate to cross—keep coming, paying anywhere from $6,000 to $15,000 per person for standard routes, and in some cases up to $75,000 for “VIP” tunnel passages. Cartels now market smuggling like a professionalized travel industry, repurposing drug routes, and even coercing migrants into forced labor or drug mule work if debts aren’t paid. In some regions, human smuggling now makes up the majority of cartel operations, underscoring how central it has become to their criminal empires.


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Mexican drug cartels offer migrants VIP package for passage into US (usatoday.com)