So I guess the DEA Museum here in Arlington gonna have a new display.
The United States Drug Enforcement Agency last year used an AirTag to track illegal drug making paraphernalia sent from China to a narcotics manufacturer in the U.S., according to information from a search warrant that was shared by Forbes.
Border agents in May 2022 intercepted two packages from China, which included a pill press and pill dyes. They suspected the equipment was headed to a drug dealer and notified the DEA. The DEA opted to stick an AirTag inside the package to track its movements, which appears to be the first time an AirTag has been used in such a way.
The search warrant does not provide details on why the DEA opted to use an AirTag over another kind of GPS-based tracking device, but it mentioned that the "precise location information" would let investigators "obtain evidence about where such individuals store drugs and/or drug proceeds, where they obtain controlled substances, and where else they distribute them."
A retired detective that spoke to Forbes speculated that the DEA may have used an AirTag because it offers more reliable connectivity than other devices, or because of past failures of the GPS devices available to police.
AirTags have built-in anti-tracking functions that may not make them suitable for use for this kind of tracking. They are designed to play a sound when away from an owner for a short period of time, and can also be located using the Find My app on iPhone or the Tracker Detect app for Android.
The recipient of the package was ultimately not charged in federal court, but he did end up being charged by the state of Massachusetts where the package was delivered.
Article Link: AirTag Used by Federal Agents to Bust Illegal Narcotics Manufacturer
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AirTag Used by Federal Agents to Bust Illegal Narcotics Manufacturer
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This is federal law enforcement overreach and a violation of due process laws. “Suspecting” someone should never be enough to open their mail, much less put a tracker in it to find out where it is going.
Apple vs the various TLAs have not been in the news lately, so one would have to assume that Apple has made multiple deals to stay in favor with the US Government.
No it isn’t the federal government is part of Apple Enterprise so we can run any code we want. But outside of work a lot of federal employees use only Android
And how do you get from suspicion to proof? You suspect, you get a warrant, inset tracking device, package gets delivered, you arrest recipient, you try them in court.
You get direct evidence of a crime (the sale or manufacture of controlled substances) and work your way from that end. Purchasing pill making machinery is not a crime. Should law enforcement put AirTags inside all shipments of guns in case they’re later used in crimes?
So then they’d have to find it. They likely don’t have AppleIDs anyway.
I thought the same thing. This sounds like a kid's imagination of reality.
Some really great points. Thanks.
That doesn’t address the notifications. Comment above does a pretty good job. Couriers ignore them.
Yeah, I wonder about this. Border agents have a lot of discretion within 200 miles of the boarder, but looking up the address via the DEA and planting a tracker seems to be a bit different than normal. I wonder if the evidence is admissible...I suppose that's what the lawyers will fight about. Then everyone will settle because the DEA and CPB won't want to deal with not being able to do their possibly illegal search.
Looks like drug dealers will have to learn about Apple products and news, besides chemistry. Perhaps MacRumors will be a good start ?
Looks like some of them are here already, my friend.
Use an android phone, don’t get alerted to AirTags.
Use an iPhone, you trigger the AirTag and disclose your own location regardless.
Either way, seems like one is screwed.
If it’s being transported by an unscrupulous person in a van or whatever. I don’t think the article said the method of transport
Since we do not know the whole story, it’s quite possible the DEA already had reason to suspect the shipment and was already working with postal inspectors, or vice versa.
No, but if they have evidence a dealer is making illegal sales, or a certain address is used for illegal purchases, then certainly that would b one tool available to use to get evidence of a crime.
In Australia it’s fairly well known that some industries have a standard multiplier on their bids when it’s a government project, even if the work is identical to what they’d be doing for a private client. If the project is something that was in the manifesto, the multiplier is even bigger.
The government could threaten to set up their own body to do the work in-house, but that would be big government - if you actually ran a government like a business everyone who says you should do that would lose their minds until they got a chance to give it all away.
It isn't a policy that they will punish you for going against. It is just them saying what it is designed for. They don't want to say it is for theft protection and then get sued when someone's property is stolen.
The real issue is political; doing that requires Congress to approve adding headcount, something that is hard to do. It’s easier to hire contractors, even if you have ghost staffing, so agencies hire contractors. That way, everyone can say they have reduced the size of government and still get work done.
Apple’s policy is to report the AirTag’s owner to law enforcement when it is discovered by someone being tracked. That sound like punishment to me.