coyote
/koˈʝote/ · B2 · noun · m
coyote
🐺 From Nahuatl coyotl; the smuggler 'coyote' preys on migrants like a wild canine
Spanish took coyote from Nahuatl coyotl, the wild dog of the Americas. The smuggler sense is figurative: like the animal, a coyote slips across borders and lives off others' needs. A fixer or middleman acts the same way, working in the gaps.