Uber has a problem: Their courier service Uber Connect has become a new haven for drug dealers trying to move their product.
Uber drivers across the country are worried about becoming “unwitting drug mules,” as Uber prohibits drivers working for Uber Connect from tampering with customers’ packages.
Kyle Brock said he was driving for Uber in Mesa, Arizona, last year when an Uber Connect customer ordered a package delivery from one motel to another motel at 1 a.m.
He told NBC News that the package “was just a grocery bag with the most random and worthless stuff in it,” including a pen, some candy, and a box about the size of two decks of cards covered in an “excessive amount of tape.”
He guessed there were narcotics in there, but due to Uber’s rule he just left it alone.
He said he “dropped off the package with quite a bit of dread” to a nervous-looking person who accepted it, and he stopped driving for Uber shortly after.
Uber drivers have speculated on the kind of trouble they could get in if police pulled them over ,or if an irate customer found out they reported a package to authorities.
One driver in Southern California said, “Even not knowing, you’re still caught holding the bag, and it’s just not worth it for 13 bucks.”
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