Others are duped or coerced. It is hard to detect and prosecute. Global communications allow smugglers to rapidly change routes, countries of transit and of destination, and schedules. The production of high quality counterfeit documents is easy. Types of Smuggling Operations Human smuggling operations take many different forms.
Research suggests an emerging pattern of increasing professionalization.
This pattern may vary by the type and location of the smuggling. To use trafficking into the United States from Mexico to illustrate the various patterns of smuggling, at the most informal levels, aliens are helped by family and friends to traverse the border. At a slightly more organized level, local agents may be used to link migrants to more formal smuggling operations. The local contacts, who are generally well known to the migrants, tell them who to contact at the border to help them gain entry into the United States. Documents may be forged border crossing cards or visas, but smugglers also sell real documents that permit an imposter with similar physical features to fool the inspectors.