English edit

Noun edit

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 edit