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> but they're dwarfed by pot sales I doubt selling pot is more profitable than the rest of their activities combined. Take The Knights Templar as an example, t
by 2_listerine_pls 9y ago
> but they're dwarfed by pot sales
I doubt selling pot is more profitable than the rest of their activities combined. Take The Knights Templar as an example, they operated within a single state and made around a Billion USD in 2013 from Iron ore alone.
https://nypost.com/2014/03/17/mexican-drug-cartel-moves-from-meth-to-iron-ore-mining/ https://nypost.com/2014/03/17/mexican-drug-cartel-moves-from...
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- adventured 9y agoThe total all-inclusive marijuana market is solidly a ~$60-$80 billion market in just the US. A legalized marijuana market would be larger than the cocaine, meth and heroin markets combined in the US. If you remove the marijuana market, the cartels lose half of their revenue. Further, a lot of the other crime by cartels is funded by their marijuana business. It has been a cornerstone of their overall businesses the last 40 years. That example of you gave, is fringe. The Knights Templar are not doing $25+ billion in annual revenue, which is what the implied extrapolation would be. The total annual 'revenue' for all Mexican cartels, is likely to be closer to $10 billion than not (RAND corporation estimated $6.6 billion for their drug trade, which is the majority of what they do). There's a critical distinction between traditional corruption and illegal activities by gangs and similar, which is plentiful in 100+ of 195 nations, and the specific effects of the war on drugs. The war on drugs aspect of it, can be relatively easily neutered. This is a well studied topic. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/magazine/how-a-mexican-drug-cartel-makes-its-billions.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/magazine/how-a-mexican-dru...