A garbage scow is a large watercraft used to transport refuse and waste/garbage across waterways. It is often in the form of a barge which is towed or otherwise moved by means of tugboats; however, many are also self-propelled. They are most common in large, coastal cities, such as New York City,[1] which may transport collected trash to neighboring ports for disposal or, occasionally, even illegally dump the payload at sea.[2][3]
The garbage scow Mobro 4000, which was given the nickname the "Gar-Barge", became notorious in 1987 for travelling between New York City and Belize trying unsuccessfully to get rid of a load of rubbish, ultimately incinerated in New York.
Garbage scows have been used to covertly transport illegal substances in the US. In 1948, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported a major bust of narcotics smugglers by United States customs guards and NYC police, with city sanitation workers searching through 20 tons of garbage on a scow in New York Harbor for over US$1 million in drugs concealed there.[1]
In another case, during the 1920–1933 era of US prohibition of alcoholic beverages, a garbage scow in New York was used to smuggle 1,000 cases of liquor from New York's "rum row".[4]
