trap car

English

Noun

trap car (plural trap cars)

1. (law enforcement) A vehicle used by law enforcement agencies as bait to capture car thieves or thieves who steal items from cars.
2. (automotive) A vehicle infused with very dark tints in order to evade capture or scrutiny.
3. (rail transport) A railroad car used for much smaller shipments usually within terminal or city limits.

   Synonym: ferry car

4. A passenger vehicle used for drug smuggling, having a sophisticated design that reveals “stash spots” for drugs only when certain functions of the vehicle are performed simultaneously or in sequence.
   • 2000, Mike Gray, Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out, page 10:

     But a look inside the trunk reveals one of the reasons—a sheet of boilerplate steel mounted at the forward wall. Goff recognizes this setup. It's what they call a "trap car."

   • 2000, Marlon Wilson, Shorty Four, page 13:

     He got him another trap car Chevy.

   • 2010, George Pelecanos, Right As Rain:

     Ray had bought this particular vehicle from a trap-car shop up in the Bronx. […] Hidden compartments behind the glove box, to the left of the steering column, and in other spots throughout the interior concealed Ray's guns and his personal stash of drugs.

   • 2012, Ioan Grillo, El Narco: The Bloody Rise of Mexican Drug Cartels, page 151:

     The crisp notes travel from local dealers to Mexican distributors and float south over the border in a trap car.

   • 2021, Hans Nelen, Dina Siegel, Contemporary Organized Crime, page 244:

     The former undercover agent recalled, "we brought up an especially good batch of marijuana from a seizure in Texas, and we showed the targets the dope in a trap car” with secret compartments.

References

• trap car on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “trap car”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• car part