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Radio Tecnico: How the Zetas Cartel Took over Mexico with Walkie-Talkies (2014)

79 points by prostoalex 7y ago

weare138 7y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCEexG9xjw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCEexG9xjw
Aloha 7y ago
This makes it seem like the guy who built it was a evil genius. I don't think he was - while I'm certain he's a smart guy, building a wide area trunked radio system only really needs one thing, money. The rest is pretty easy.
- wil421 7y ago
  Or a guy with a gun to his head. The cartels have kidnapped engineers, enslaved them, and then murdered them.[1] [1]https://www.wired.com/2012/11/zeta-radio/ https://www.wired.com/2012/11/zeta-radio/
  - nine_k 7y ago
    You still need money to obtain equipment. IDK if stealing it is practical, but it might be.
    - numismatex 7y ago
      Dealing drugs, money is no problem. Nor is theft, or paying for things in say, cocaine. Or exchanging money for credit cards.
- joe_the_user 7y ago
  Indeed, acting as if the Zeta's rise came technological magic distracts from the point that all this is a product of the drug war and moreover, the approaches of the Zetas mirrored the approaches of the police and military - given the Zetas were ex police and military. The drug war has become mostly cynical and with those deeply involved not expecting it will ever change anything, not for the good. And it's easy to see this cynicism bleeding over to corruption.
pier25 7y ago
2014
overlordalex 7y ago
Outline alternative: https://outline.com/3gpyRa https://outline.com/3gpyRa [Off topic] I'm unable to access the site because of a cookie blocker that has a take-it-or-leave-it attitude - there is no option to opt-out of unnecessary cookies. These are the numbers of cookies that the site wants to set: Necessary (18) Preferences (0) Statistics (10) Marketing (54) Unclassified (22) 18 Necessary vs 86 Other, and no way to opt-out of any of them! My impression was that this was illegal under GDPR and that the site should work with only "necessary" cookies enabled, allowing users to opt-out of tracking where possible. Am I wrong?
- JensRex 7y ago
  I get GDPR-blocked as well, and your URL doesn't work for me either. Says "something went wrong". Archive mirror of OP: https://archive.ph/fkYGW https://archive.ph/fkYGW
- ASalazarMX 7y ago
  Firefox and uBlock Origin user. Also couldn't read the article until I blocked JavaScript on that page. Site improves a lot without it.
ASalazarMX 7y ago
> In at least one location, Del Toro Estrada installed a repeater on the roof of a Mexican police station, either a brazen display of the cartel’s impunity or a signal of the department’s corruption. Definitely the latter. In Tamaulipas, border of Texas, the city and state police is in the narc payroll. They don't pay them a fortune, just roughly what their legal salary is, but understandably elicit more loyalty from them. This also happens in other Mexican states, but not to such a blatant degree.

79 points by prostoalex 7y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCEexG9xjw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCEexG9xjw

This makes it seem like the guy who built it was a evil genius. I don't think he was - while I'm certain he's a smart guy, building a wide area trunked radio system only really needs one thing, money. The rest is pretty easy.

wil421 7y ago
Or a guy with a gun to his head. The cartels have kidnapped engineers, enslaved them, and then murdered them.[1] [1]https://www.wired.com/2012/11/zeta-radio/ https://www.wired.com/2012/11/zeta-radio/
- nine_k 7y ago
  You still need money to obtain equipment. IDK if stealing it is practical, but it might be.
  - numismatex 7y ago
    Dealing drugs, money is no problem. Nor is theft, or paying for things in say, cocaine. Or exchanging money for credit cards.
joe_the_user 7y ago
Indeed, acting as if the Zeta's rise came technological magic distracts from the point that all this is a product of the drug war and moreover, the approaches of the Zetas mirrored the approaches of the police and military - given the Zetas were ex police and military. The drug war has become mostly cynical and with those deeply involved not expecting it will ever change anything, not for the good. And it's easy to see this cynicism bleeding over to corruption.

pier25 7y ago

2014

overlordalex 7y ago

Outline alternative: https://outline.com/3gpyRa https://outline.com/3gpyRa [Off topic] I'm unable to access the site because of a cookie blocker that has a take-it-or-leave-it attitude - there is no option to opt-out of unnecessary cookies. These are the numbers of cookies that the site wants to set: Necessary (18) Preferences (0) Statistics (10) Marketing (54) Unclassified (22) 18 Necessary vs 86 Other, and no way to opt-out of any of them! My impression was that this was illegal under GDPR and that the site should work with only "necessary" cookies enabled, allowing users to opt-out of tracking where possible. Am I wrong?

JensRex 7y ago
I get GDPR-blocked as well, and your URL doesn't work for me either. Says "something went wrong". Archive mirror of OP: https://archive.ph/fkYGW https://archive.ph/fkYGW
ASalazarMX 7y ago
Firefox and uBlock Origin user. Also couldn't read the article until I blocked JavaScript on that page. Site improves a lot without it.

ASalazarMX 7y ago

> In at least one location, Del Toro Estrada installed a repeater on the roof of a Mexican police station, either a brazen display of the cartel’s impunity or a signal of the department’s corruption. Definitely the latter. In Tamaulipas, border of Texas, the city and state police is in the narc payroll. They don't pay them a fortune, just roughly what their legal salary is, but understandably elicit more loyalty from them. This also happens in other Mexican states, but not to such a blatant degree.