The criminalisation of seafarers who uncover contraband on their vessels is hampering the fight against organised drug smuggling, the International Chamber of Shipping says.

The case of Polish master Andrzej Lasota highlighted how doing the “right thing” resulted in his “counterproductive” arrest and 20-month detention in Mexico, ICS security expert John Stawpert told TradeWinds.

Lasota was arrested in July 2019 despite reporting the discovery of 240 kg of cocaine buried under several thousand tonnes of petcoke coal on his 31,900-dwt multipurpose vessel UBC Savannah (built 2000).

He halted the discharge of the cargo at Altamira, Mexico, after the discovery but was arrested for negligence in “failing to be aware” that his ship might have been carrying drugs.

Lasota was never put on trial and was eventually released after nearly 600 days in custody following a lobbying campaign by the ship’s flag state, Cyprus. Twenty-one other seafarers were released after two months.

“We’re seeing a trend of criminalising seafarers who are doing the right thing in terms of reporting drug finds,” said Stawpert.

He said the first recourse of law enforcement in certain countries, particularly Latin America, is to arrest the master when he comes forward to say drugs have been found on his vessel.

“That’s totally counterproductive from a law enforcement and counter-narcotics perspective,” he added. “It’s also unacceptable from the standpoint of seafarer rights and welfare.

“It’s an over-reaction to a problem that’s profound for them. You can see why they take a hard-line position — but it’s totally the wrong way to go about it.”

Stawpert, who was involved in producing the new ICS publication Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse On Board Ship, said cyber techniques are increasingly being used by criminals to identify and target security vulnerabilities in shipping companies.

He said this is the biggest security development in the two years since the report was last published.

Andrzej Lasota, master of an Intership Navigation vessel, was wrongfully incarcerated in a drugs case in Mexico. Photo: Harry Papachristou

Stawpert cited the use of PIN code fraud in which gangs illicitly gain the unique computerised codes for individual containers, usually by paying large sums to corrupt staff at points on the long shipping supply chain.

The gangs use the details to track containers and then send their own drivers to collect the cargo from destination ports before retrieving the hidden contraband.

European policing agency Europol said in April that the tactic has been growing since 2018, when the port at Rotterdam discovered that containers were going missing, turning up at the wrong places or had been dumped.

“Cyber brings a new dimension to that threat risk matrix,” said Stawpert. “What that particular crime emphasises to us is the need for vigilance right across the supply chain.”

Survey results published by DNV on Tuesday suggested that fewer than half of maritime professionals think their organisation is investing enough in cyber security.

Stawpert also emphasised the increased sophistication of rip-on, rip-off techniques when criminals remove drugs from a container and replace the seals with fakes that are hard to identify.

The publication highlights how traffickers can open a shipping container and remove a 100 kg consignment of cocaine in three minutes.

The drugs haul is retrieved from the petcoke cargo carried by the UBC Savannah in Mexico Photo: Supplied by Piotr Rusinek

It also notes the measures that owners and operators can take to make their vessels less susceptible to being used as “mules” for the drugs trade, including continuous vetting of staff to ensure they are not vulnerable to corrupt approaches from wealthy drugs gangs.

The book also details potential hiding places on vessels, advice on how to identify crew members using drugs or working with gangs, and techniques on ship searches.

“It’s a difficult fight, but there are things you can do,” said Stawpert, who has had a security brief at the ICS for two decades. “This is a massive criminal industry but you can make your company less susceptible.”