Ford patent could protect you from accidental drug smuggling

You may own a Ford vehicle and travel across the border, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you want to smuggle illegal drugs. And the automaker wants to make sure you’re not inadvertently participating in drug trafficking.

Ford recently filed a patent, noted by Engine1for an “unknown cargo detection and evidence collection system” that could use a vehicle’s various cameras and sensors to prevent the driver from becoming a “blind mule,” or someone who unknowingly transports illegal drugs across the border.

Most read on IEN:

The system is designed to detect suspicious activity by looking for fluctuations in the vehicle’s weight, listening for activity around the vehicle that deviates from the norm and scanning for unknown GPS signals, as these are the most likely ways a drug smuggler would track a vehicle and retrieve his cargo after it crosses the border. As the report notes, if the system thinks something is suspicious, it can turn on the cameras, start recording and store the footage so it can be used as evidence later.

It’s an interesting application for many of the cameras and sensors already in Ford vehicles, but it’s unclear whether it will ever become a standard feature. What’s also unclear is how a driver would react if their vehicle told them there might be illegal drugs in their truck. Would they jump out and try to give the drugs back? Would they drive to the border crossing and say, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but…?’” Neither option sounds great.

If the technology seems far-fetched, inewsource story cited in the report said that blind mule drug trafficking has been a strategy used by Mexican drug cartels for decades. And it has created huge legal headaches for anyone caught smuggling drugs without realizing it.

This isn’t the first time Ford has applied for a patent to catch lawbreakers. The company previously patented technology which allows its vehicles to detect other vehicles driving around them at high speed and take photos for the archive. Last year, the company patented technology that allows functions to be remotely disabled or a self-driving vehicle to take back himself if the driver defaults on his car payments.

Click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter with the latest news from the manufacturing industry.