smuggler

noun

smug·​gler ˈsmə-glər 

plural smugglers

: one who smuggles something

The traffic in drugs—especially cocaine—to Florida by sea and air from South America has been generating wealth to rival that of the tourist trade and attracting a cadre of ingenious and ruthless smugglers from around the world.

—Jeremiah Tax

In nearby Nogales smugglers tunnel 6 ft. under the border and funnel people through.

—Terry McCarthy

Officials in Paraguay raided a wildlife smuggling operation in its capital city, Asunción, on March 25, recovering two critically endangered Brazilian parrots, which Paraguayan smugglers had hoped to sell in West Germany for $40,000.

—Focus

Synonyms of smuggler

• runner
• courier
• bootlegger
• mule

Examples of smuggler in a Sentence

during Prohibition, smugglers of alcohol did a brisk business

Recent Examples on the Web

Employees have become burned out and morally conflicted as their focus has shifted from pursuing drug smugglers and human traffickers to apprehending asylum seekers in courthouses and arresting day laborers at their worksites. — Francisco Cantú, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026

The front-running suspect in that alt theory is now Joey Ippolito, a former drug smuggler and friend of Simpson’s. — Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 1 Nov. 2026

Most of the people arriving from Cuba at the height of the influx in 2022 and 2023 came in groups on makeshift vessels, not by smugglers. — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 29 Oct. 2026

The account specifies that the smugglers scuttled the ship to evade the law. — Marcus Librizzi, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1661, in the meaning defined above