Do They Search For Drugs on the Greyhound Bus?

Do they search for drugs on the Greyhound bus? This is a question that I get asked quite frequently when people find out that I make videos about the Greyhound bus. And I always give the same answer: Yes and no.

The reason I say 'yes and no' is because while there is a chance that your bag may be searched while you are riding on the Greyhound bus, it's not Greyhound's policy to search passenger's bags.

In fact I think Greyhound as a company could care less what you have in your bags as long as you hand over the money for your ticket and you don't cause trouble.

That being said law enforcement has a totally different attitude towards drugs and they know that there is always a good chance that someone is using the Greyhound bus to transport them.

So in certain areas and cities the authorities do routine searching of Greyhound passenger's bags either before they board the bus or during their trip.

I've heard that this happens a lot in major cities and along bus routes near the U.S./Mexican border. Basically the more known the area is for drug trafficking the more likely that your bags will be searched.

If you are traveling in areas where drugs aren't really an issue then you probably won't have to worry about having you bags searched.

For instance, I've made countless cross country Greyhound bus trips from Florida to the Northwest and I've only had one incident where my bags were at risk of being searched and that was in Atlanta, GA.

Homeland Security  was at the station with the drug dogs and all and they were searching the bags of all passengers headed to California. I never travel with any contraband and I wasn't heading to California so I wasn't worried but I saw quite a few people that were.

My point is that you can ride Greyhound for years and never have your bags searched. It kind of just depends on what cities you are leaving and arriving from and the routes you are traveling on.

Even then a lot of the time when law enforcement searches a Greyhound bus they are acting on a tip they received. I don't really think they are ever out to catch the guy or girl who has a little marijuana stashed in their carry on bag. They are more out for people who are using Greyhound to move some serious weight.

Basically I'd say that 90% of the time there is no danger of your bag being searched while you are traveling on the Greyhound bus. But it's that other 10% that should have you worried if you are thinking of traveling with drugs or anything else that could get you into trouble.

I'm pretty sure that since the Greyhound bus crosses state lines you would up with federal charges if you got caught with anything illegal in your bags and that's just a risk I don't advise anyone to take.

Why not just leave the drugs or whatever else you are thinking about taking on the bus at home and then you don't have to worry. Trust me, it's not worth it.