There are many women languishing in jail for carrying drugs into the United States. While some of these women voluntarily trafficked in drugs, others were inadvertent carriers. Drug Mules exposes the plight of this latter group: poor, uneducated women who are victimized by both the drug dealers and the criminal justice system.

In a typical situation, drugs are planted in the belongings of women without their knowledge. Other times women are coerced by threats of violence to themselves or their families. If apprehended by US customs, they are particularly vulnerable if they do not speak English well. Unable to raise bail, they may spend months in jail awaiting trial.

These women face impossible choices. They can defend their innocence at trial and risk 15 years to life imprisonment due to mandatory sentencing as specified by the Rockefeller Law. Or they can plead guilty to a crime they have not committed in exchange for significantly reduced sentences. Drug Mules shows that the law must be changed to distinguish between hardened drug lords and the naive women they exploit.