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

• bootlegger
• contrabandist
• courier
• runner

Examples of smuggler in a Sentence

during Prohibition, smugglers of alcohol did a brisk business

Recent Examples on the Web

Criminal groups both drove much of the migration and made a several-hundred-million-dollar business out of it, taxing migrant smugglers, charging migrants fees, and kidnapping them for ransom. —Will Freeman, Foreign Affairs, 5 Dec. 2024

While De León interviewed countless migrants and smugglers, his book focuses on the journeys of nearly half a dozen people from Honduras, Mexico and elsewhere. —Nicole Acevedo, NBC News, 21 Nov. 2024

But the couple say they’ve been told that most of these smugglers are not caught. —David Culver, CNN, 21 Nov. 2024

Happily, actors Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Adam Driver proved worthy successors to the smugglers, scavengers, Jedi masters, and Sith Lords who preceded them. —Jennifer M. Wood, WIRED, 21 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1661, in the meaning defined above