Drug trafficking networks are drafting senior citizens to smuggle illicit narcotics into the country, says the Canada Border Services Agency.
An intelligence advisory from the CBSA flags the issue and asks staff to be on the lookout for elderly drug importers. It suggests some of the seniors act as mules in response to financial pressure after falling victim to scams spread through phishing email messages, websites, mail and phone calls.
"It is believed that ... drug trafficking organizations are using these types of scams to recruit unsuspecting senior citizens and vulnerable adults in Canada and abroad to unwittingly transport illegal narcotics into Canada," reads the heavily censored internal report obtained by CBC News under Access to Information.
"While organizations like these victimize consumers of all ages, backgrounds and income levels, the elderly appear to have been disproportionately targeted by these networks."
The advisory from May 2018 suggests some targeted individuals likely have lost "substantial money" to scams and are desperate to recover lost funds.
