核心畫面
Think of a person standing behind a trade that has to stay out of sight — goods moved, money taken, nothing written down that anyone could check. The word names that person, and it names them with blame: a trader who works where the law cannot reach. What is being can change; the hidden trade and the blame stay.
可以想成一個站在見不得光的買賣後面的人。東西被搬走，錢被收下，過程沒有任何可以查的紀錄。這個字就是在指這個人，而且帶…更多收起
可以想成一個站在見不得光的買賣後面的人。東西被搬走，錢被收下，過程沒有任何可以查的紀錄。這個字就是在指這個人，而且帶著指責：一個在法律管不到的地方做生意的人。被買賣的東西可以換，但「暗中的買賣」和那份指責一直都在。From the word’s history
The source gives traffic + -er. Traffic in this word is the older meaning, trade, not cars on a road, so a trafficker is literally 'a person who trades' — and modern use keeps that only for trade that is illegal.
來源資料寫這個字是 traffic 加 -er。這裡的 traffic 是比較舊的意思「做買賣」，不是路上的車流。所以字面就是「做買賣的人」，只是今天的用法幾乎只留給違法的買賣。
Wiktionary entry for trafficker, etymology: “From traffic + -er.” (packet ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1361064034:5685)