44 ms·

Drug cartel ‘narco-antennas’ make life dangerous for Mexico’s repairmen

349 points by URfejk 6y ago

scythe 6y ago
While we commonly think of drugs as a sort of abstracted aggregate, in reality most of the drug trafficking in Latin America comes down to just two drugs: marijuana and cocaine. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/RB9700/RB9770/RAND_RB9770.pdf https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/R... Marijuana is a problem that we are already addressing. A majority of Americans and Westerners in general have supported marijuana legalization for years now, raising hopes that the problem will be solved in some way. Our knowledge about the drug and experience with legal marijuana problems suggests that the downsides of legalization are not very large. Cocaine is a little bit different. It puts severe stress on the heart because it inhibits action potentials in peripheral neurons directly via action on voltage-gated sodium channels and increases metabolic rate via CNS activity. The downsides of cocaine prohibition are massive, but in this case the downsides of legalization have a large uncertainty. However, the severe death toll associated with a $30bn market puts the onus of responsibility on any conscientious American to want to put a stop to it. Unlike powder cocaine, coca leaf has a long history of relatively safe use in the northern Andes. Widespread coca tea use is not considered a public health crisis of any particular concern in Peru and southern Colombia: https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/uwoja/article/download/8770/6964 https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/uwoja/article/download/8770... http://eva.fhuce.edu.uy/pluginfile.php/128760/mod_resource/content/1/Labate-%20Prohibition%20religious%20freedom%20%20human%20rights.pdf#page=51 http://eva.fhuce.edu.uy/pluginfile.php/128760/mod_resource/c... The decriminalization of coca tea in Western countries may lead to less gang activity as illegal cocaine manufacture economics shift from large-scale to small-scale extraction. The same situation occurs presently with DMT, albeit on a much smaller scale. Optimistically, addicts may substitute with oral formulations which are generally less addictive due to the relationship between reward delay and the intensity of operant conditioning. Cocaine also substitutes for methamphetamine, which may lower the street price of the latter. However, there is also the possibility of increased crime associated with cocaine extraction, which poses another quandary. It is highly unconventional to enact a policy that will clearly empower certain types of criminals. Nonetheless, I think we need to be open to ideas like these if we are to be ready to take responsibility for the role of US drug policy in destabilizing equatorial Latin America. The situation as it stands is not acceptable. It must be strenuously opposed.
- munk-a 6y ago
  While I agree that the common populace of the US has mostly reached an understanding that marijuana prohibition has far higher costs compared to gains (and was initiated for extremely unjust reasons) - we aren't there yet. National legalization is unlikely to happen regardless of who takes the Senate+House+Presidency in the coming term with a possibility of it happening if a lot of pressure is applied on the Democrat side (and assuming they hold significant political power). The fight isn't over. While the populace has coalesced the political will is still lagging behind.
- ponker 6y ago
  Isn’t Mexican heroin much bigger in dollar value than marijuana?
  - ct520 6y ago
    mexican meth...
- darawk 6y ago
  Interesting take on cocaine legalization. I like it.
- ardy42 6y ago
  >> Unlike powder cocaine, coca leaf has a long history of relatively safe use in the northern Andes. Widespread coca tea use is not considered a public health crisis of any particular concern in Peru and southern Colombia: > The decriminalization of coca tea in Western countries may lead to less gang activity as illegal cocaine manufacture economics shift from large-scale to small-scale extraction. Who would substitute coca tea for cocaine? Decriminalized marijuana has same sought-after effects of criminalized marijuana, so can reduce the crime associated with it. I don't think you'd get the same reduction in cocaine trafficking crime unless you decriminalized refined cocaine.
  - quotemstr 6y ago
    A 1920s alcohol prohibition that banned only hard liquor while allowing beer and wine might well have lasted until the present day. I think there really is a willingness to substitute legal "soft" versions of drugs (or other contraband) for "hard" ones.
aaron695 6y ago
I don't mind lead or gold. But in 2011 it was claimed they kidnapped and killed 12 technicians https://www.npr.org/2011/12/09/143442365/mexico-busts-drug-cartels-private-phone-networks https://www.npr.org/2011/12/09/143442365/mexico-busts-drug-c...
totetsu 6y ago
Do the cartelsmen mount their equipment on the mast while the cell antenas are still hot 0_0
- reaperducer 6y ago
  Possibly. When I worked in radio there was no shortage of engineers willing to violate all of the safety rules and do tower maintenance without shutting down the transmitter for a little extra money. They often had the RF scars to prove it.
  - ed25519FUUU 6y ago
    Why would there be a market for such work?
    - vb6sp6 6y ago
      Gangs don't need to follow safety standards and pay more than legitimate work
      - Someone 6y ago
        They also may ‘pay’ more if you refuse to do the work.
    - scruple 6y ago
      Why wouldn't there be, might be the better question...
    - reaperducer 6y ago
      Because while the transmitter is off, the radio station makes zero money.
  - hh3k0 6y ago
    Sorry but what are RF scars? Scars resulting from radiofrequencies? Do you have a picture at hand, perhaps?
parsimo2010 6y ago
It blows my mind that there are multiple organizations that are so large and well armed that even the Mexican government won't touch them. Keep in mind that the Mexican military has the 17th most active duty personnel in the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_paramilitary_personnel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of...) and spent $7 billion last year (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Armed_Forces https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Armed_Forces), and still isn't willing to take on drug cartels stomping on their own sovereign territory. These guys just throw up repeaters and not only do they not try to hide them, they actually mark them to show who is going to be destroying your life if you take them down. Oh, and you have to pay if you want to work on your own legitimate equipment that is rightfully on that tower. The illegal drug trade exists on a scale unimaginable to most people. Imagine if we could figure out how to legitimize it- we'd save countless lives over stupid stuff like having your life threatened just because you work for a telecom company and need to do your job. If we could tax drug money at just a couple percent we could invest in all sorts of social programs and infrastructure, rather than funding thugs. The crazy part is that a lot of the drug lords don't even spend a good chunk of their fortune, they just store massive amounts of money in houses they'll never even live in. Edit: To clarify my point a little, the reason the Mexican government isn't willing to do anything is that they couldn't do anything about it even if they tried. The Mexican military has fewer people than the cartels and have a smaller budget. According to this article from 2012 (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/485071 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/485071) the Mexican cartels employ 450,000 people and make $25 billion annually (these numbers have probably increased in the last eight years). The Mexican military would have to be incredibly skilled to take them on with 177,000 people and a $7 billion budget. And even then, that's just the Mexican cartels, there are more in South America and the rest of the world. Stopping the illegal drug trade would take a unified policy effort from every government in the world, we're past the point of being able to be able to fight the cartels with military power.
- obilgic 6y ago
  Just because the military is big, It doesn't mean It's efficient and Its easily controllable centrally. Probably there are many groups within the military and many of the higher ups have their own connections with different local organizations etc.
ed25519FUUU 6y ago
> The contractor had disrupted a small link in a vast criminal network that spans much of Mexico. In addition to high-end encrypted cell phones and popular messaging apps, traffickers still rely heavily on two-way radios like the ones police and firefighters use to coordinate their teams on the ground, six law enforcement experts on both sides of the border told Reuters. How will Mexico ever have peace while it lives next to the largest drug consuming country in the world? While it’s illegal here, the money will go to these cartels.
- louwrentius 6y ago
  It boggles my mind how people use drugs and not realise that for the drugs they bought, a poor mexican person will have their face cut off while still alive. Buy drugs, fund the cartels. Have mexican people killed. It makes me wonder why life is so bad for so many that they need to use 'the hard stuff'.
  - triceratops 6y ago
    It boggles my mind that a poor Mexican person will have their face cut off because someone decided it should be illegal to grow a plant and consume it.
    - louwrentius 6y ago
      I agree
  - mullingitover 6y ago
    The poor Mexican person isn't getting their face cut off because of some person doing drugs. They're getting their face cut off because of the government's failure to accept that it can't win the war on drugs, and it's too proud to sue for peace in the form of legalization.
    - louwrentius 6y ago
      I'm all for that.
simonsarris 6y ago
> Their No. 1 rule when discovering cartel equipment on a tower is simple: Don’t touch it. They never follow up on why they shouldn't touch it! [edit: OOPS yes they do, sorry!]
- bugzz 6y ago
  cartel retaliation
- jentist_retol 6y ago
  Later in the article. >Cartels have kidnapped technicians doing maintenance on cellular towers to make them fix their networks, people working in the sector said. The technicians usually are released after a few days, if not sooner. Still, those who spoke with Reuters said they live in fear of being forced by traffickers to do such work, lest they be killed for knowing too much, or become targets of authorities or rival criminal groups for being complicit. Whenever possible, they said, they downplay their expertise.
unnouinceput 6y ago
Watch "Wolf of Wall Street" with Leonardo Di Caprio. That will answer all your questions why Mexico is such a paradise for cartels.
m3kw9 6y ago
Multiple times they noted that they kept calm or not scared, Why would they more likely to kill them if they got scared?
- tenebrisalietum 6y ago
  Scared means you think you got caught doing something wrong a lot of times. It's an admission of guilt.
  - bigwavedave 6y ago
    I guess I could see that- this context is about the cartels interacting with maintenance men and soliciting protection payments, not law enforcement thinking maintenance men are doing shady things.
- ggggtez 6y ago
  Like a cornered animal, if someone is acting jumpy you don't know what they might do. If it helps, imagine you are a police officer and you stop someone for speeding on the highway... You are just trying to give them a fine, but they are acting really weird. You might start thinking: does this guy have a gun? Why isn't he doing what I expected? etc.
hedora 6y ago
Am I the only one that wishes we had something like this in the US (but without the murder)?
refurb 6y ago
I don’t listen to Joe Rogen much, his two interviews with Ed Calderon (former Mexican federal police in cartel areas) is incredible and highly recommended. He talks about the corruption, the hearts-and-minds efforts of the cartels, the cartel cell networks, how they build roads, etc. absolutely fascinating. https://youtu.be/llhb2ymtsw8 https://youtu.be/llhb2ymtsw8 https://youtu.be/xPBejhoKlb8 https://youtu.be/xPBejhoKlb8
- TheJoeMan 6y ago
  Does he cover having to pay to work on your own tower? It seems to me the cartels would need to be the ones bribing the workers to not snitch
1024core 6y ago
What if the US had a system wherein drug addicts would register, and get their drugs for free (or at very low prices, administered by professionals)? Just take away the middlemen, and provide the drugs in safe, controlled, monitored sites. No questions asked: as long as you are over 21 and can prove a need, you can get a card. Just walk in, get your fix, and either walk out (or lay down right there). Once you have people in this system, then you can work on them to get them off the drugs.
- refurb 6y ago
  Not the exact same, but Vancouver is piloting something like this. You get evaluated by a doctor and if you're addicted and have fentanyl in your system (at high risk of OD), they will prescribe you hydromorphone (which is a very cherished street drug). There is a "vending machine" where you can put in your credentials and out pops your dose. You can do it as often as you want, but there is a minimum time between doses.[1] [1]https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-drug-dispensing-machine-opioids-overdoses-1.5429704 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-dr...
- loxs 6y ago
  That won't happen soon, as there are too many people in the US government whose salary depends on this not happening.
- alecco 6y ago
  In European countries doing this the biggest opponents are families of addicts. This is basically a death sentence. It's society finally turning its back on them. I believe it's the right approach in the long run, but in the short run you get emotional appeals and weak politicians.
  - apexalpha 6y ago
    Could you point me to some reading material on this? Because we have these schemes in the Netherlands. Opiod addicts can get their fix from municipality health centres, alcoholic homeless people can clean up parks in exchange for beer, it seems to work very well. If you take away 'the game' of acquiring your next fix and give people structure it seems to set them up better to drop the dependancy all together.
shard972 6y ago
Such a beautiful country
grandinj 6y ago
Mexico’s only real chance is to raise a middle finger to the USA and legalize drugs in their own country. How can you enforce law and order when a foreign country is funding criminals in your country with more money than exists in your own budget?
- apexalpha 6y ago
  The USA has a drug problem, Mexico has a kartel problem.
  - grandinj 6y ago
    That would be true on another continent. But when your neighbour has an economy 100x the size of yours, and hands your cartels several billion dollars a year, you really have not realistic chance at all.
  - cwhiz 6y ago
    There is nothing wrong with adults doing drugs. The USA has a law and morality problem. We, the USA, choose to continue this model despite decades of evidence that it does not work and will not ever work.
mindentropy 6y ago
Isn't what President Duterte is correct, now? There are lot of failings I agree but Philippines would have turned out to be another Mexico if it was left unchecked. If the borders of the US close then the smuggling will start to go to other countries too I guess.
charliebrownau 6y ago
Once again it demonstrates people are victims without the ability of self defense and guns to defend yourself You are always a VICTIM with no agency , depanding on the state to defend you without a weapon In this case he wasnt doing anything wrong If its this dangerous then he should :- - Be armed - company should hire merchs to protect him - Get the gov/state/police to remove the shit from the tower with police protection - ironically the STATE in Mexico just passed illegal "laws" to make it "ILLEGAL" to repair mobile phones/computers/tech/etc and modify software Yet poor saps fixing the tower part of his job , risks getting shot by gang thugs
elboru 6y ago
Here in Mexico we have to copy the American narco model. Drugs crossing the border don’t just appear automatically in the consumer’s hands, right? So how do American narcos transport their drugs inside the US? How do they transport the money? Does the American law enforcement chooses to close their eyes to the mountains of drugs crossing the border every day and being transported everywhere in the US? Are they part of the mafia? Let’s not forget there’s A LOT of money involved and a lot of consumers are millionaires and powerful people. Why are cartels so quiet up there?
- Stierlitz 6y ago
  @elboru .. Exactly, it's a pretend war on drugs, while the people at the top make millions. Moving the war on drugs overseas only serves to distract from the US home grown drug industry. And there's no problem in injecting these narco-dollars back into the economy.
alexfromapex 6y ago
Well I think the Mexican government just got a huge clue for how to stop them
pstuart 6y ago
We could significantly diminish the cartels' powers if we legalized all drugs. It could be done with the stroke of a pen but there's no political willingness to do so. The citizenry has been brainwashed into thinking that the war on drugs is designed to protect people; in fact it's the exact opposite.
URfejk 6y ago
A shocking video surfaced onto social media Friday, showing a convoy of armored vehicles with dozens of combat-uniformed gunmen who expressed their support for Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Menccho"), the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mexican-cartel-displays-show-force-shocking-video https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mexican-cartel-displa...

349 points by URfejk 6y ago

While we commonly think of drugs as a sort of abstracted aggregate, in reality most of the drug trafficking in Latin America comes down to just two drugs: marijuana and cocaine. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/RB9700/RB9770/RAND_RB9770.pdf https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/R... Marijuana is a problem that we are already addressing. A majority of Americans and Westerners in general have supported marijuana legalization for years now, raising hopes that the problem will be solved in some way. Our knowledge about the drug and experience with legal marijuana problems suggests that the downsides of legalization are not very large. Cocaine is a little bit different. It puts severe stress on the heart because it inhibits action potentials in peripheral neurons directly via action on voltage-gated sodium channels and increases metabolic rate via CNS activity. The downsides of cocaine prohibition are massive, but in this case the downsides of legalization have a large uncertainty. However, the severe death toll associated with a $30bn market puts the onus of responsibility on any conscientious American to want to put a stop to it. Unlike powder cocaine, coca leaf has a long history of relatively safe use in the northern Andes. Widespread coca tea use is not considered a public health crisis of any particular concern in Peru and southern Colombia: https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/uwoja/article/download/8770/6964 https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/uwoja/article/download/8770... http://eva.fhuce.edu.uy/pluginfile.php/128760/mod_resource/content/1/Labate-%20Prohibition%20religious%20freedom%20%20human%20rights.pdf#page=51 http://eva.fhuce.edu.uy/pluginfile.php/128760/mod_resource/c... The decriminalization of coca tea in Western countries may lead to less gang activity as illegal cocaine manufacture economics shift from large-scale to small-scale extraction. The same situation occurs presently with DMT, albeit on a much smaller scale. Optimistically, addicts may substitute with oral formulations which are generally less addictive due to the relationship between reward delay and the intensity of operant conditioning. Cocaine also substitutes for methamphetamine, which may lower the street price of the latter. However, there is also the possibility of increased crime associated with cocaine extraction, which poses another quandary. It is highly unconventional to enact a policy that will clearly empower certain types of criminals. Nonetheless, I think we need to be open to ideas like these if we are to be ready to take responsibility for the role of US drug policy in destabilizing equatorial Latin America. The situation as it stands is not acceptable. It must be strenuously opposed.

munk-a 6y ago
While I agree that the common populace of the US has mostly reached an understanding that marijuana prohibition has far higher costs compared to gains (and was initiated for extremely unjust reasons) - we aren't there yet. National legalization is unlikely to happen regardless of who takes the Senate+House+Presidency in the coming term with a possibility of it happening if a lot of pressure is applied on the Democrat side (and assuming they hold significant political power). The fight isn't over. While the populace has coalesced the political will is still lagging behind.
ponker 6y ago
Isn’t Mexican heroin much bigger in dollar value than marijuana?
- ct520 6y ago
  mexican meth...
darawk 6y ago
Interesting take on cocaine legalization. I like it.
ardy42 6y ago
>> Unlike powder cocaine, coca leaf has a long history of relatively safe use in the northern Andes. Widespread coca tea use is not considered a public health crisis of any particular concern in Peru and southern Colombia: > The decriminalization of coca tea in Western countries may lead to less gang activity as illegal cocaine manufacture economics shift from large-scale to small-scale extraction. Who would substitute coca tea for cocaine? Decriminalized marijuana has same sought-after effects of criminalized marijuana, so can reduce the crime associated with it. I don't think you'd get the same reduction in cocaine trafficking crime unless you decriminalized refined cocaine.
- quotemstr 6y ago
  A 1920s alcohol prohibition that banned only hard liquor while allowing beer and wine might well have lasted until the present day. I think there really is a willingness to substitute legal "soft" versions of drugs (or other contraband) for "hard" ones.

aaron695 6y ago

I don't mind lead or gold. But in 2011 it was claimed they kidnapped and killed 12 technicians https://www.npr.org/2011/12/09/143442365/mexico-busts-drug-cartels-private-phone-networks https://www.npr.org/2011/12/09/143442365/mexico-busts-drug-c...

totetsu 6y ago

Do the cartelsmen mount their equipment on the mast while the cell antenas are still hot 0_0

reaperducer 6y ago
Possibly. When I worked in radio there was no shortage of engineers willing to violate all of the safety rules and do tower maintenance without shutting down the transmitter for a little extra money. They often had the RF scars to prove it.
- ed25519FUUU 6y ago
  Why would there be a market for such work?
  - vb6sp6 6y ago
    Gangs don't need to follow safety standards and pay more than legitimate work
    - Someone 6y ago
      They also may ‘pay’ more if you refuse to do the work.
  - scruple 6y ago
    Why wouldn't there be, might be the better question...
  - reaperducer 6y ago
    Because while the transmitter is off, the radio station makes zero money.
- hh3k0 6y ago
  Sorry but what are RF scars? Scars resulting from radiofrequencies? Do you have a picture at hand, perhaps?

parsimo2010 6y ago

It blows my mind that there are multiple organizations that are so large and well armed that even the Mexican government won't touch them. Keep in mind that the Mexican military has the 17th most active duty personnel in the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_paramilitary_personnel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of...) and spent $7 billion last year (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Armed_Forces https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Armed_Forces), and still isn't willing to take on drug cartels stomping on their own sovereign territory. These guys just throw up repeaters and not only do they not try to hide them, they actually mark them to show who is going to be destroying your life if you take them down. Oh, and you have to pay if you want to work on your own legitimate equipment that is rightfully on that tower. The illegal drug trade exists on a scale unimaginable to most people. Imagine if we could figure out how to legitimize it- we'd save countless lives over stupid stuff like having your life threatened just because you work for a telecom company and need to do your job. If we could tax drug money at just a couple percent we could invest in all sorts of social programs and infrastructure, rather than funding thugs. The crazy part is that a lot of the drug lords don't even spend a good chunk of their fortune, they just store massive amounts of money in houses they'll never even live in. Edit: To clarify my point a little, the reason the Mexican government isn't willing to do anything is that they couldn't do anything about it even if they tried. The Mexican military has fewer people than the cartels and have a smaller budget. According to this article from 2012 (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/485071 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/485071) the Mexican cartels employ 450,000 people and make $25 billion annually (these numbers have probably increased in the last eight years). The Mexican military would have to be incredibly skilled to take them on with 177,000 people and a $7 billion budget. And even then, that's just the Mexican cartels, there are more in South America and the rest of the world. Stopping the illegal drug trade would take a unified policy effort from every government in the world, we're past the point of being able to be able to fight the cartels with military power.

obilgic 6y ago
Just because the military is big, It doesn't mean It's efficient and Its easily controllable centrally. Probably there are many groups within the military and many of the higher ups have their own connections with different local organizations etc.

ed25519FUUU 6y ago

> The contractor had disrupted a small link in a vast criminal network that spans much of Mexico. In addition to high-end encrypted cell phones and popular messaging apps, traffickers still rely heavily on two-way radios like the ones police and firefighters use to coordinate their teams on the ground, six law enforcement experts on both sides of the border told Reuters. How will Mexico ever have peace while it lives next to the largest drug consuming country in the world? While it’s illegal here, the money will go to these cartels.

louwrentius 6y ago
It boggles my mind how people use drugs and not realise that for the drugs they bought, a poor mexican person will have their face cut off while still alive. Buy drugs, fund the cartels. Have mexican people killed. It makes me wonder why life is so bad for so many that they need to use 'the hard stuff'.
- triceratops 6y ago
  It boggles my mind that a poor Mexican person will have their face cut off because someone decided it should be illegal to grow a plant and consume it.
  - louwrentius 6y ago
    I agree
- mullingitover 6y ago
  The poor Mexican person isn't getting their face cut off because of some person doing drugs. They're getting their face cut off because of the government's failure to accept that it can't win the war on drugs, and it's too proud to sue for peace in the form of legalization.
  - louwrentius 6y ago
    I'm all for that.

simonsarris 6y ago

> Their No. 1 rule when discovering cartel equipment on a tower is simple: Don’t touch it. They never follow up on why they shouldn't touch it! [edit: OOPS yes they do, sorry!]

bugzz 6y ago
cartel retaliation
jentist_retol 6y ago
Later in the article. >Cartels have kidnapped technicians doing maintenance on cellular towers to make them fix their networks, people working in the sector said. The technicians usually are released after a few days, if not sooner. Still, those who spoke with Reuters said they live in fear of being forced by traffickers to do such work, lest they be killed for knowing too much, or become targets of authorities or rival criminal groups for being complicit. Whenever possible, they said, they downplay their expertise.

unnouinceput 6y ago

Watch "Wolf of Wall Street" with Leonardo Di Caprio. That will answer all your questions why Mexico is such a paradise for cartels.

m3kw9 6y ago

Multiple times they noted that they kept calm or not scared, Why would they more likely to kill them if they got scared?

tenebrisalietum 6y ago
Scared means you think you got caught doing something wrong a lot of times. It's an admission of guilt.
- bigwavedave 6y ago
  I guess I could see that- this context is about the cartels interacting with maintenance men and soliciting protection payments, not law enforcement thinking maintenance men are doing shady things.
ggggtez 6y ago
Like a cornered animal, if someone is acting jumpy you don't know what they might do. If it helps, imagine you are a police officer and you stop someone for speeding on the highway... You are just trying to give them a fine, but they are acting really weird. You might start thinking: does this guy have a gun? Why isn't he doing what I expected? etc.

hedora 6y ago

Am I the only one that wishes we had something like this in the US (but without the murder)?

refurb 6y ago

I don’t listen to Joe Rogen much, his two interviews with Ed Calderon (former Mexican federal police in cartel areas) is incredible and highly recommended. He talks about the corruption, the hearts-and-minds efforts of the cartels, the cartel cell networks, how they build roads, etc. absolutely fascinating. https://youtu.be/llhb2ymtsw8 https://youtu.be/llhb2ymtsw8 https://youtu.be/xPBejhoKlb8 https://youtu.be/xPBejhoKlb8

TheJoeMan 6y ago
Does he cover having to pay to work on your own tower? It seems to me the cartels would need to be the ones bribing the workers to not snitch

1024core 6y ago

What if the US had a system wherein drug addicts would register, and get their drugs for free (or at very low prices, administered by professionals)? Just take away the middlemen, and provide the drugs in safe, controlled, monitored sites. No questions asked: as long as you are over 21 and can prove a need, you can get a card. Just walk in, get your fix, and either walk out (or lay down right there). Once you have people in this system, then you can work on them to get them off the drugs.

refurb 6y ago
Not the exact same, but Vancouver is piloting something like this. You get evaluated by a doctor and if you're addicted and have fentanyl in your system (at high risk of OD), they will prescribe you hydromorphone (which is a very cherished street drug). There is a "vending machine" where you can put in your credentials and out pops your dose. You can do it as often as you want, but there is a minimum time between doses.[1] [1]https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-drug-dispensing-machine-opioids-overdoses-1.5429704 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-dr...
loxs 6y ago
That won't happen soon, as there are too many people in the US government whose salary depends on this not happening.
alecco 6y ago
In European countries doing this the biggest opponents are families of addicts. This is basically a death sentence. It's society finally turning its back on them. I believe it's the right approach in the long run, but in the short run you get emotional appeals and weak politicians.
- apexalpha 6y ago
  Could you point me to some reading material on this? Because we have these schemes in the Netherlands. Opiod addicts can get their fix from municipality health centres, alcoholic homeless people can clean up parks in exchange for beer, it seems to work very well. If you take away 'the game' of acquiring your next fix and give people structure it seems to set them up better to drop the dependancy all together.

shard972 6y ago

Such a beautiful country

grandinj 6y ago

Mexico’s only real chance is to raise a middle finger to the USA and legalize drugs in their own country. How can you enforce law and order when a foreign country is funding criminals in your country with more money than exists in your own budget?

apexalpha 6y ago
The USA has a drug problem, Mexico has a kartel problem.
- grandinj 6y ago
  That would be true on another continent. But when your neighbour has an economy 100x the size of yours, and hands your cartels several billion dollars a year, you really have not realistic chance at all.
- cwhiz 6y ago
  There is nothing wrong with adults doing drugs. The USA has a law and morality problem. We, the USA, choose to continue this model despite decades of evidence that it does not work and will not ever work.

mindentropy 6y ago

Isn't what President Duterte is correct, now? There are lot of failings I agree but Philippines would have turned out to be another Mexico if it was left unchecked. If the borders of the US close then the smuggling will start to go to other countries too I guess.

charliebrownau 6y ago

Once again it demonstrates people are victims without the ability of self defense and guns to defend yourself You are always a VICTIM with no agency , depanding on the state to defend you without a weapon In this case he wasnt doing anything wrong If its this dangerous then he should :- - Be armed - company should hire merchs to protect him - Get the gov/state/police to remove the shit from the tower with police protection - ironically the STATE in Mexico just passed illegal "laws" to make it "ILLEGAL" to repair mobile phones/computers/tech/etc and modify software Yet poor saps fixing the tower part of his job , risks getting shot by gang thugs

elboru 6y ago

Here in Mexico we have to copy the American narco model. Drugs crossing the border don’t just appear automatically in the consumer’s hands, right? So how do American narcos transport their drugs inside the US? How do they transport the money? Does the American law enforcement chooses to close their eyes to the mountains of drugs crossing the border every day and being transported everywhere in the US? Are they part of the mafia? Let’s not forget there’s A LOT of money involved and a lot of consumers are millionaires and powerful people. Why are cartels so quiet up there?

Stierlitz 6y ago
@elboru .. Exactly, it's a pretend war on drugs, while the people at the top make millions. Moving the war on drugs overseas only serves to distract from the US home grown drug industry. And there's no problem in injecting these narco-dollars back into the economy.

alexfromapex 6y ago

Well I think the Mexican government just got a huge clue for how to stop them

pstuart 6y ago

We could significantly diminish the cartels' powers if we legalized all drugs. It could be done with the stroke of a pen but there's no political willingness to do so. The citizenry has been brainwashed into thinking that the war on drugs is designed to protect people; in fact it's the exact opposite.

URfejk 6y ago

A shocking video surfaced onto social media Friday, showing a convoy of armored vehicles with dozens of combat-uniformed gunmen who expressed their support for Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Menccho"), the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mexican-cartel-displays-show-force-shocking-video https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mexican-cartel-displa...