Objective: To examine transnational drug trafficking as a dynamic phenomenon that combines criminal activity aimed at generating superprofits, a hybrid means of inflicting casualties, and, as a new trend, a pretext for the use of military means for geopolitical purposes. Methodology: The dialectical method of scientific inquiry, as well as formal-legal and system-structural scientific methods, comparative legal and historical analysis are used. Examples of pseudo-legal trafficking in psychoactive substances are examined, the impact of interstate customs agreements on it is assessed, the geopolitical aspect of drug trafficking is analyzed, and the threat to the national security of the Russian Federation is highlighted. Conclusions: It is concluded that effective counteraction to transnational drug trafficking requires a revision of some existing international agreements. Scientific significance of the work: The work provides the author's forensic definition of transnational drug trafficking, tracing its key characteristics; analyzes the economic model of drug trafficking; and substantiates that the lack of a definition of transnational drug trafficking as a criminal phenomenon in legislation and forensic science has reduced the effectiveness of countering this type of crime.