Ford patents drug trafficking tech to save drivers from becoming ‘blind mules’

Ford’s new patent filed by the automobile company in March of last year appears to have all the components necessary to prevent its drivers from accidentally becoming blind mules for drug traffickers.

The patent, published mid-September, is titled Unknown Cargo Detection and Evidence Collection System for a vehicle and associated method.

Blind mules is the term used to identify individuals or groups who become part of a drug trafficking activity without being aware of their contribution. Drivers and passengers traveling across international borders who often get caught with contraband substances are usually not aware that they are carrying the goods, much less if it is illegal.

Traffickers plant the contraband items on a vehicle and retrieve them once the border checks are completed. Technological advances such as GPS trackers also monitor the mule and facilitate recovery closer to the destination.

How can Ford’s tech prevent this?

According to Ford’s patent , the company plans to build an event detection system for a vehicle that includes a processor, memory, and sensor suite to keep a tab on the vehicle.

When a trigger occurs, the system is activated and follows instructions saved in memory while collecting data from the sensor suite, which can then be used as evidence later.

The trigger could be someone standing too close to the vehicle, an abnormal distribution of weight in the vehicle, or an unfamiliar GPS frequency traveling with the vehicle itself. The system is designed to use the sensors and cameras on the vehicle to capture audio and visual evidence of the events that follow and record them for the future.

Will we ever see this deployed?

While the concept has merits, it is only logical to question why a major automobile manufacturer would commercially roll out technology that would benefit only a handful of people. Cases of blind mules caught with contraband substances , however real, are still very rare when compared to the number of car owners.

It remains uncertain whether Ford would implement the technology for such rare instances. Additionally, it’s unclear how the company would determine that a blind mule would specifically use a Ford vehicle if they were targeted.

It makes more sense when one opens up to other potential applications of the technology, such as thwarting relay attacks. With new-generation vehicles deploying high-end technology, carjackers use sophisticated approaches to steal cars.

One such pattern has been found in relay attacks, where two carjackers team up to steal the car. One stays close to the vehicle, while another uses a device very close to the car owner’s NFC card or smartphone to relay a signal to unlock the car.

Interestingly, this has been the pattern for stealing Tesla cars , and Ford might be keen to remove any kinks in its upcoming models that could fall victim to a similar attack.

Speaking of Tesla, with the automobile industry closely matched to the tech industry, it could also be the case that technology should be patentable so that intellectual property is protected, even though the technology might not see the light of day.