Drug traffickers are targeting unsuspecting travelers and their luggage to ship cocaine and other illicit drugs, Colombia's Caracol News agency warned on Monday.

One all too simple tactic, used by airport personnel with ties to criminal rings, is to remove the baggage tag from a checked suitcase and put it on the drug-filled suitcase they want to plant, the agency said.

The news item came after "police said that security officials at the El Dorado airport (in Bogota) are under investigation for their alleged ties to mafias," the agency said.

"Police and aeronautical officials are on maximum alert due to the so-called 'baggage tag switch' of a traveler to suitcases filled with drugs and in his name that were headed abroad," the agency said in a video report.

"The crime is on the rise," it added.

To prevent tampering with your suitcase, "the anti-drug police called on passengers to protect their luggage with plastic and ensure the added security measure is registered by the airline," the agency said.

Shrink-wrapping stands at some airports will wrap your suitcase in layers of plastic.

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