The countdown is on for Global Security Exchange (GSX) 2026. From 14 -16 September, the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta will host the annual flagship event of ASIS International and the most comprehensive gathering of security professionals anywhere in the world. With attendees from 100 nations, GSX is less a conference than a full recalibration of how the industry thinks, operates, and prepares for what comes next. This year, attendees can look forward to more than 200 education sessions, organized across tracks that reflect the full spectrum of modern security challenges.
For a sneak peek at what's in store, we caught up with Anna Robbins, Lead Business Intelligence Analyst at BSI Consulting, Emily Lewis, Business Intelligence Analyst at BSI Consulting, Jim Yarbrough, TBD at SI Supply Chain Services and Solutions, and Millena Kiros, Business Intelligence Analyst at BSI Consulting, to learn more about their upcoming session: Drugs, Arms, and Human Trafficking: When Organized Criminal Groups Use Your Shipments for Smuggling Illicit Cargo.
How did you become interested in your topic?
Millena Kiros: As the business intelligence analyst covering the Middle East and Africa, I became interested in uncovering illicit smuggling after consistently seeing highly organized criminal and militant groups infiltrate cargo shipments with illicit drugs like cocaine and amphetamines. In the past, I have seen these illicit activities expose corrupt regimes, port authorities, and unsafe conditions for cargo and workers alike. We constantly work with analysts across regions to study emerging trends within these international criminal networks. My team and I study how organized criminal groups use high-level tactics to take advantage of gaps in the supply chain, whether that’s by infiltrating illicit drugs, weapons, or stowaways in unsafe conditions along dangerous cargo routes.
This threat is constantly evolving. For example, the Intelligence team and I have observed trends showing criminal organizations increasingly routing illicit materials from South America through transshipment points in West and North Africa before reaching markets in Europe, Asia, and emerging markets in Australia and New Zealand. I try to leverage data to identify these evolving routes, detect emerging risks, and provide insights for clients to stay ahead of such threats.
Tell us about your presentation and why security professionals should have this topic on their radar?
Emily Lewis: The infiltration of illegal drugs into legitimate shipments poses significant risk to businesses, including financial loss, operational disruption, and reputational damage. Shipments compromised by illicit drugs are often completely discarded, creating substantial financial exposure. Our presentation at GSX 2026 will provide strategic insight into how criminal networks exploit supply chain routes to move illicit drugs. We will discuss how insider involvement can enable large-scale trafficking operations to go undetected for long periods of time and examine how these groups continuously adapt their routes and tactics. We are excited to offer practical mitigation strategies to help companies reduce vulnerabilities in their supply chains and develop a stronger understanding of the cargo risk landscape.
What advice would you give security professionals interested in this topic?
Jim Yarbrough: My advice is to focus on holistic and cultural change, stay curious, and stay human. Over my career, I have seen the greatest and most lasting impacts from security professionals when they are driving an awareness and involvement of a security culture across their entire global operation. I see far greater success when people choose curiosity over frustration when changes or unexpected events occur. This helps professionals stay focused on driving the changes needed for systemic security improvements. Finally, use AI as a tool, but don't allow it to replace your instincts and experience. We have remarkable tools at our disposal now for detecting patterns and summarizing data. It is our job, as security professionals, to connect with our colleagues, stakeholders, and partners and get them involved and bought in to the security culture. It is critical to remember that security flaws and gaps can be resolved by changing human behavior.
How do you see this issue evolving in the next 2-5 years?
Anna Robbins: If there’s one thing I’ve seen over the past seven years working in supply chain intelligence, it’s that these types of risks never stay static—they are constantly evolving. When I think about unmanifested cargo specifically, I see it following the same pattern we’ve observed across other security trends.
When enforcement increases in one area, networks adapt and shift. For example, we’ve seen major northern European ports experience cycles of increased and decreased drug smuggling depending on shifts in enforcement and security measures. As controls improve, traffickers don’t stop—they just move to smaller or less-scrutinized markets or locations to diversify routes and reduce interdiction risk.
We’ve seen similar shifts in other areas as well. Stowaway activity tied to migration has evolved over time, especially with ongoing instability in the Middle East. What used to be more concentrated—such as Syrian migration—has diversified as geopolitical conditions have changed. Legislation also plays a big role. For instance, cannabis legalization in North America has created new smuggling flows to regions where it remains illegal. And in the Western Hemisphere, increased pressure on maritime drug trafficking, like US interdiction efforts, has pushed trafficking patterns to adapt across the Caribbean and Central America.
So the biggest takeaway, in my view, is that we shouldn’t expect a single dominant trend, but rather we should expect continued fragmentation and evolution. The risk of unmanifested cargo is going to mirror the broader environment: dynamic, reactive, and increasingly tied to global macro factors.
Why do you attend GSX?
Anna Robbins: I was introduced to GSX last year after being asked to join a panel called “Future Forward: Risk Intelligence, Resilient Supply Chains, and Operational Excellence” with Kara Brennion, a former colleague and ASIS member. I had such a great experience, and it left enough of an impression that I knew I wanted to come back and make it an annual trip. When I saw that this year’s focus areas included intelligence and supply chain security, I was excited to bring my whole team in. I pulled the team together and we submitted proposals so we could not only attend together, but also be part of the conversation.
To learn more about GSX and to register, visit here.
