Expert reveals the horrifying truth behind Rue’s drug smuggling plot in Euphoria season three

The new season of Euphoria has barely begun, but it’s already sparked major conversation around Rue’s increasingly dark storyline. In the opening episode, Rue and Faye are shown acting as drug mules, in scenes that are as shocking as they are grounded in reality.

The premiere reveals Rue has been working for dealer Laurie, smuggling narcotics across the Mexico border to pay off a $100,000 debt. As Laurie’s “number one mule”, Rue has allegedly made over a dozen trips, bringing Faye in to help conceal fentanyl-filled pellets by swallowing them.

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While the scenes may feel extreme, experts say this method, known as “body packing”, is far from fictional, and the risks are severe.

Dr Martin Roche, speaking to Vice, explained just how dangerous things can become if something goes wrong mid-transport. He said he had seen “several” cases over the years, warning: “If you’re carrying as a mule packets of cocaine and when ruptures the acute powder of cocaine is rapidly absorbed it creates a disaster in your stomach.”

Unlike other forms of drug use, substances carried this way can be absorbed almost instantly if a packet breaks. As Dr Roche describes, the drugs can pass directly into the bloodstream, rapidly reaching the brain at toxic levels. He even called the stomach the “worst way” to smuggle drugs because of how quickly it can turn fatal.

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And while his comments focused on cocaine, the stakes are even higher with fentanyl, the drug Rue and Faye are transporting. Fentanyl is lethal in extremely small doses, meaning a ruptured pellet would “almost certainly” be fatal.

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The storyline also mirrors a wider real-world pattern, where vulnerable people are often targeted for smuggling operations. Tara McGrath, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, told The New York Times: “The cartels are directly recruiting anyone who is willing to do it, which typically is someone who needs the money. The cartels spread their tentacles and grab ahold of vulnerable people at every possible opportunity.”

That dynamic is reflected clearly in Rue’s situation, trapped by debt and addiction, and pulled deeper into dangerous territory.

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According to The New York Times, this trend has intensified in recent years: “Americans have always been involved in drug smuggling, but in recent years, as fentanyl has inundated the country, traffickers have begun to rely more on U.S. citizens than ever before.”

The reason is partly logistical. As the report explains, “fentanyl also has unique qualities that make it an ideal product to be moved in compact packages by individual travelers: It is extraordinarily potent and very easy to make.”

Taken together, Rue’s storyline is a reflection of a growing and deeply dangerous reality. And if anything, experts suggest the show may be understating just how deadly the risks really are.

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Featured image credit: HBO