smuggler's run guide

Smuggler’s Run Guide – GTA 5

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Grand Theft Auto 5 remains one of the most popular games across all platforms, retaining a crazy amount of its player base nearly an entire decade after its initial release. This staying power could be put down to many things, such as the game’s impressively diverse and free open world or the fun and replayable main campaign missions. 

However, most will agree that Grand Theft Auto 5 is still played by the majority of players for two reasons. Firstly, they continue playing because of the constant updates and work put into the GTA Online mode, wherein more and more content is continually added to the service, allowing players to keep sinking hours into their online character.

Of course, the developers over at Rockstar aren’t doing all this out of the goodness of their hearts. You see, most of these pieces of additional content require the player to have a substantial amount of in-game cash to access the cooler features; therefore, the developers are counting on players putting in more real money to buy fictional cash.

This leads me to the second reason people continue playing GTA 5: that Rockstar does not seem keen on producing another GTA game due to their steady income from the online player base. 

So, with all this in mind, why don’t we look at one of these online DLCs to see why players are still so enamored with the game this late in its lifecycle? In particular, this Smuggler’s Run Guide will focus at the Smuggler’s Run DLC that Rockstar published in August 2017. Let’s go!

Smuggler’sRun Guide: Overview

As with most GTA Online content, this DLC adds a load of new characters, vehicles, and missions; however, the general purpose of this DLC is to open up the skies above Los Santos to the player, allowing them to turn those bluer than blue skies into a profit-making enterprise. 

When the player spawns into their GTA Online character, they can team up with one of the best characters from the base games campaign, Ron Jakowski, also known as the CEO of Trevor Phillips Industries, and ‘Nervous Ron.’ Together, Ron and the player can set up an illegal contraband distribution center from one of their aircraft hangars. 

Along with these extra missions and vehicles, this update introduces the new Adversary Mode and Motor Wars, which we will cover in greater detail later in this smuggler’s run guide.

The Hangers

Image by James Gibson

As mentioned, the player can only operate their illegal smuggling businesses out of aircraft hangers. However, since earlier updates allowed players to turn their already owned aircraft hangers into other things, such as cargo warehouses and customization workshops, the developers needed to add more hanger properties into the game to give the player enough space for all these businesses. 

In total, the developers added five hangers through this update that can be purchased via the Maze Bank app on the player’s phone or computer. These hangers are fully customizable, allowing the player to put their own unique flair on the place via choosing their own style, lighting, graphics, furniture, and much more. All of which come at a pretty price tag. These hangers are as follows:

LSIA Hanger A17

The most affordable hanger on this list can be found at the Los Santos International Airport. Due to this rather inconvenient location, this hanger will only cost the player a minuscule $1.2 million, chump change to the average GTA Online player nowadays. 

LSIA Hanger 1

This second Los Santos Airport hanger for sale is pretty much a carbon copy of the first entry on this list; however, it is slightly easier to access and, therefore, costs $325,000 more than its sister. This is some math I don’t quite understand, but I don’t make the rules.

Zancudo Hanger 3499

This next hanger can be found on the eastern side of Ft Zancudo. You know, the one that everyone used to jump into using high-powered motorbikes and race against time to steal a fighter jet before the tanks had time to shoot you down? Yeah, that one.

Well, that was before GTA Online did stunts like that obsolete. Now, the player can simply buy this $2,085,000 hanger right next door and populate it with planes far cooler and quicker than those standard fighter jets we all used to love stealing. 

Zancudo Hanger 3497

Alike the other Ft Zancudo hanger, this property allows the player some minor access to the military base and the opportunity to steal a fighter jet or two craftily. However, as this hanger is located on the more desirable side of the base, Rockstar, in all their money-grabbing glory, has decided to charge the player an extra $565,000 for this hanger instead of its sister. 

Zancudo Hanger A2

Zancudo Hanger A2
Image by James Gibson

This location is by far the most accessible for the average player and, therefore, costs a hefty $3.25 million.

Located, once again, in Ft Zancudo, this hanger allows the player to somehow fly contraband in and around Los Santos from within a highly classified military base. The reasoning behind this still confounds me to this day.

In Brief:

  • Several hangers are available for purchase via this update, all of which can be found in the LS Airport of Ft Zancudo.
  • This update also adds hundreds of clothing items and several new vehicles, especially some cool new planes.
  • The player must complete a Set-Up mission with Ron before they can start their contraband business.

Contraband Business

Now that you have got yourself one of these aircraft hangers, you’ll want to earn some of that money back right away, so why wait? This DLC allows the player to start a drug smuggling ring with their pal Ron similar to the Import/Export businesses from previous updates.

Starting the Business

To start any commerce business, you will need some products to sell. Of course, most people will start either making or legally procuring these products; however, this is GTA, and your character has never stopped at a red light, never mind paying for something they could just as easily steal.

So, you will need to go on some Sourcing missions to acquire these contraband goods to sell for a massive profit in the future. 

Selecting Missions

These missions can be selected on your computer, wherein you can pick which type of contraband you wish to source/steal. From this screen, you choose your target and go out into the world, armed to the teeth, to take these goods from their ‘rightful’ owners.

However, each location will be surrounded by a random amount of heavily armed enemies, requiring the player to cause bloodshed before liberating their target. 

Each of these contraband containers will net the player $10,000. However, should you approach the mission with some of your friends, you can extract up to four cases, earning $40,000 in total. 

Make a Sale

Make a Sale
Image by James Gibson

After your first sourcing mission, the player will be able to make their first sale via the Air Freight Business app on your computer. From here, you can select which of your stolen pieces of contraband to sell. Doing so will give the player a discount on any future aircraft purchases made through this update. 

Of course, like all GTA Online businesses of this nature, the other players on the server can always come through and interrupt your sourcing missions and steal the cargo out from under your nose. However, you can earn more in sales should you complete these tasks with more people on the server, so it is truly a risk versus reward scenario.

In Brief:

  • The player must complete the sourcing mission to acquire sellable cargo. These missions will earn each player a maximum of $10,000.
  • The player can sell their cargo via the Air Freight Business app on their computer.
  • If you wish to customize your hanger, the player can do so on the same computer. 

Additional Vehicles

Airplanes

Buckingham Alpha-Z1

Buckingham Alpha-Z1
Image by James Gibson

This plane can be purchased from Elitas Travel, costing the player over $2 million. However, if you complete nine missions through the Air Freight Business app, you can buy the plane at a trade-in price of $1,595,000. 

Nagasaki Havok

Nagasaki Havok
Image by James Gibson

This single rotor and occupant helicopter is very nimble and capable of transporting only small pieces of cargo; however, should you be worried about running into any difficulty, the player can equip this small helicopter with a machine gun. In total, it will cost the player $2.3 million as standard or $1.73 million at the trade-in price.

Nagasaki Ultralight

Nagasaki Ultralight
Image by James Gibson

This trike stile flyer is the most lightweight aircraft in the game, featuring a low top speed and a single glider engine. But, don’t let this fool you; the glider is more than capable of dropping off some cargo and comes at a relatively low price. The standard price for this unit is $665,000; however, after three missions, this price will drop to $500,000.

Rogue

Rogue
Image by James Gibson

This plane is the first proper combat plane on this list. Fully equipped and tricked out, this plane can have machine guns, countermeasures, and a bomb bay.

This makes the Rogue the best cargo transport plane considering its lightness and relatively high speed. Purchasing this plane will take $1,596,000 at standard rate and $1,200,000 after six missions.

LF-22 Starling

LF-22 Starling
Image by James Gibson

This next plane is a proper warplane, coming with rockets as standard and able to be equipped with a bomb bay and homing missiles should you feel so inclined. However, because of this plane’s martial capabilities, it comes at a gigantic price, costing the player $3,657,000 at standard.

Should you want a discount on this plane, you will need to complete a silly amount of missions, 15 in total, to achieve the trade-in price of $2,750,000.

V-65 Molotok

V-65 Molotok
Image by James Gibson

This fighter plane comes from Russia, fully equipped with machine guns and the best, fastest engines available at the time of release on GTA Online.

To purchase this plane, you will need to part with a huge sum of money, $4,788,000. However, if you complete 18 Air-Trade missions, you can get this plane for a mere $3,600,000. 

Tula

Tula
Image by James Gibson

The Tula is easily one of the coolest planes on this list for many reasons. First of all, and most importantly, it is a seaplane, capable of landing and taking off on land and water.

Also, it comes with four mounted machine guns as standard and can be upgraded to have a bomb bay and manned turrets, creating a hellish instrument of war.

The standard price for this beauty is $5,173,000, and the trade-in price is $3,890,000. However, you will have to complete 21 missions to unlock this price.

RM-10 Bombushka

RM-10 Bombushka
Image by James Gibson

Now we are onto the daddy of them all, the one that does not mess around and is capable of transporting entire buildings (probably), should the game allow. This massive bomber plane is not only the most expensive on this list but also the largest, capable of firing explosive rounds from its tail and nose-mounted turrets and unleashing up to 50 bombs from its bomb bay doors.

Due to this insane martial capability and size, this aircraft will cost the GTA Online player a cool $5,918,000 as standard. However, should you complete a staggering amount of missions as part of this DLC, this plane can be yours for the small fee of $4,450,000.

Cars

Vapid Retinue

Vapid Retinue
Image by James Gibson

While this update was strictly focused on the aeronautical side of GTA, it simply wouldn’t be a GTA Online update without a couple of new cars making their way onto the streets of Los Santos.

This first car may look rather old and dated from the outside; however, if you, like me, are into your classic cars, you will recognize that this Vapid Retinue has been based on the Ford Escort.

These cars were famous for their high performance for relatively low value, making them a champion of the people all around Europe as the working class got a taste of true racing excellence.

This car was likely put into the game as a bit of nostalgia for the older European players and, therefore, does not come cheap, costing anyone a hefty $615,000.

To buy this car, head over to Southern San Andreas Super Autos.

Grotti Visione

Grotti Visione
Image by James Gibson

Looking at this car, I can see inspiration being taken from the new range of hybrid supercars such as the LaFerrari and the Porsche 918.

With this in mind, you probably won’t be shocked to hear that this car is both visually striking and very quick.

To buy one, head to Legendary Motorsport and make sure you have $2,250,000 in the bank. 

In Brief:

  • There are a total of 14 unique vehicles added to the game via this update, all of which can be purchased through the player’s phone or computer. 
  • The most expensive aircraft in this recent update does not come with everything equipped as standard; therefore, you will have to part with even more money to have everything possible. 
  • Some of the vehicles in this update are inspired by real-life cars/planes, a trend the artists over at Rockstar have been doing since time immemorial.

Adversary Modes

As you probably already know, Adversary Modes were initially added to the game with the Heists update way back in March 2015. Since then, these missions, which pitted players against one another, have had updates with the most recent content releases as the creators usually release an extra three per content launch.

The Smuggler’s Run update is no different, receiving three different Adversary Mode missions. Let’s take a look at each of these modes in turn.

Motor Wars

Motor Wars
Image by James Gibson

The Motor Wars battle royale game was the first addition to the Adversary Mode list of missions.

In this mission, the player joined one of two opposing teams who would parachute into the map like most battle royale games, collecting weapons and vehicles as they went.

Over time, a circle would slowly close around the players as one team attempted to kill the other. The last remaining team wins.

Bombushka Run

Bombushka Run
Image by James Gibson

In this mission, one team is put aboard a Bombushka RM-10 bomber with the sole task of surviving as long as possible in the massive, lumbering airplane.

In contrast, the opposing team attempts to shoot you down in a series of Buzzard Attack Choppers. After one team is brought down, the roles switch, and the winner is the team who keeps their bomber in the air the longest.

Stockpile

Stockpile
Image by James Gibson

While I could waste your time and mine by explaining this game mode in excruciating detail, I will save you the time by saying that this mode is simply Capture The Flag from any multiplayer FPS but with planes. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What is the best cargo to source in Smuggler’s Run?

Answer: The best cargo is medical supplies, chemicals, and narcotics. The player should accumulate these in lots of 50, only selling at this point to improve earnings. Selling 50 of either of these types of cargo will earn the player up to $850,000.

Question: What business makes the most money in GTA Online?

Answer: The best bang for your buck comes from cocaine production and the gunrunning bunker missions. 

Question: Can you keep a military fighter jet in GTA 5 Online?

Answer: While you cannot do this in the base game, the online section of GTA 5 allows players to store and keep a stolen military fighter jet in their personal aircraft hanger. You can also insure it so that if it does get destroyed, it will be replaced free of charge.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it, a comprehensive guide to one of the biggest initial updates that GTA Online ever received. This collection of newly added content ensured dedicated players had new missions and items to have fun with for many hours while they patiently waited for the next GTA game to be announced. However, it’s 2022 now at the time of writing this guide, and we are still waiting for that, with Rockstar seeming to never slow down regarding GTA Online updates. 

However, with all this in mind, I really do hope you learned something from this smuggler’s run guide today and will perhaps give the smuggling business a try (in the game, of course). Other than that, I look forwards to seeing you again soon. Happy smuggling!

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