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Drug ring hid $1B worth of coke on a single ship
- f38zf5vdt 5y agoThis article mentions the extensive use of "narco phones". Because the seizure happened in 2019, it's likely that this is related to Operation Trojan Shield/Ironside and the "ANOM" honeypot phones. These operations took place from 2018-2021. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANOM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANOM
- bag_boy 5y agoThanks for the link. I was wondering who tipped off the authorities, but this makes sense.
- aikinai 5y ago“that much cocaine — the weight equivalent of three fully grown male African elephants —” First time I’ve seen this unit of mass.
- stavros 5y agoI wonder what the most useless unit is. Maybe "that much cocaine - the weight equivalent of one containerful of cocaine -".
- thaumasiotes 5y agohttps://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShapedLikeItself https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShapedLikeItself
- feupan 5y ago"that much cocaine - the weight equivalent of 3 million unladen swallows"
- stavros 5y agoOr two million swallows laden with cocaine.
- Hallucinaut 5y agoAfrican or European swallows though?
- thaumasiotes 5y agoCan a swallow still fly while carrying 50% of its own weight? I think you've underestimated the laden-swallow equivalent.
- sokoloff 5y agohttps://i.redd.it/kswtx3xwfj781.jpg https://i.redd.it/kswtx3xwfj781.jpg
- _jal 5y ago"Weighs as much as a garden hose long enough to circle the earth almost 18 times."
- marginalia_nu 5y agoBut how many olympic swimming pools is that?
- TheSpiceIsLife 5y agoThe equivalent of four football fields.
- BbzzbB 5y agoMade me wonder what the real length would be. Per this random website [0], a 5/8th inch rubber-vinyl hose weighs 2.52 oz/foot, A.K.A. 234.39 g/m. Therefore, 19.76 tons of cocaine (or, you know, whatever) in hose-equivalent would measure 76.48 km. 0: https://rebootmygarage.com/3-weights-garage-hose-storage/ https://rebootmygarage.com/3-weights-garage-hose-storage/
- thaumasiotes 5y agoAssuming you formed a big circle out of that and set it spinning around the earth... how much would it weigh? ;D
- vnchr 5y agoIt’s 69.6 buttloads[0] of cocaine, assuming the full volume of a shipping container. [0] https://www.brightcellars.com/blog/how-much-is-a-buttload-of-wine/ https://www.brightcellars.com/blog/how-much-is-a-buttload-of...
- mikysco 5y agoyou should really round 69.69 buttloads up to 69.7
- vict7 5y agoThere's always https://www.reddit.com/user/useles-converter-bot/comments/ https://www.reddit.com/user/useles-converter-bot/comments/ if you're looking for useless conversions.
- rrauenza 5y agoThere’s a really good Matt Parker video on these landmark numbers… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esC4HB-AjgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esC4HB-AjgI
- zitterbewegung 5y agoSo twenty tons (the amount of coke they stole) is one container since this was on a container ship [1] since a 40' container is registered at 26.5 to 30 tons. [2] [1] https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/MSC-GAYANE-IMO-9770763-MMSI-636018276 https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/MSC-GAYANE-IMO-9770763-... [2] https://www.quora.com/How-many-tons-a-container-can-contain https://www.quora.com/How-many-tons-a-container-can-contain
- jdavis703 5y agoValuing drugs at street value when they’re still at a lower value part of the supply chain makes for a good headline. But it’s really not an accurate portrayal of the real cost. I’d be interested to know how much cocaine this was based on how much cocaine is produced annually.
- kyleblarson 5y ago20 tons is still a respectable amount of yayo.
- s5300 5y agoI think a Kilo in Mexico is $5K, less in bulk Kilos. Selling on the street in US that Kilo stretches to $80k or so. So I would imagine the cartels running the actual coca production sites that sell to the people selling for $5k… is probably $1k or so, $2.5k at the very most. There’s reasons Chapo and such had literally billions in cash just sitting in warehouses being eaten by rats. They make a looot of money
- selimthegrim 5y agoCitation on the rats?
- jdavis703 5y agoEaten by rats sounds like an excuse thieves would tell their narco-terrorist boss. It’s like kids having their homework eaten by a dog right before the deadline. That’s to say, it’s likely a euphemism turned urban legend.
- nefitty 5y agoIn Narcos, something similar happens. Some money that was buried was found by a farmer, some was lost, some rotted... Escobar preceded to violently murder the people that brought him the excuse.
- Enginerrrd 5y ago
- grouphugs 5y ago
- barney54 5y agoThe story makes you wonder how the police knew the drugs were on the ship. There is an interesting story there.
- IAmGraydon 5y agoVery likely the police have someone inside who had knowledge of the operation.
- zaroth 5y agoIf I had to guess I’d say the “narco phones” were plants running government software.
- post_from_work 5y agoThat's ALWAYS the first question in my mind when I read these types of articles about container shipping and drugs: "Who snitched?"
- TheSpiceIsLife 5y agoCorrupt cops pay off the high level traffickers to get the occasional tip off, take out a few annoying lower level idiots they’re sick of dealing with. Also undercover agents, but they’re only picking off these intermediaries too, not the manufacturers.
- smabie 5y agoWhere do the corrupt cops get enough money to pay them off? Presumably the high level traffickers have orders of magnitude more money than the cops.
- DaveExeter 5y agoI think it is long past time to legalize cocaine. Why should Americans be forced to spend so much money to have it smuggled in?
- bouncycastle 5y agoWasn't it legal in the past? Eg. ingredient in the original Coca-cola recipe.
- schleck8 5y agoBloodletting was a common therapeutic meassure for a millenia, until a few centuries ago. In other words, something being considered adquate in the past says nothing about its safety by modern standards.
- encryptluks2 5y agoI think research has already shown that the benefits of legalization outweigh those of criminalization. When something is legal, then people can be presented with treatment options and be given safe unaltered drugs. There are groups that literally go around passing out needles to drug addicts because it has been found to actually prevent more deaths than those caused by harm of using dirty needles.
- GuB-42 5y agoBefore legalization, maybe consider decriminalization, like in Portugal. It is not the same thing. Drugs are still illegal in Portugal, and trafficking is a crime, but personal use is not a criminal offense anymore. If you get caught, you can get fined, especially if you are uncooperative, but you won't face a criminal trial and you won't go to jail. But more importantly, they can suggest treatment options if you are addicted. You won't get safe unadulterated drugs but you can get testing kits. In festivals, you can find booths where they will check your drugs for free. I don't know how I feel about legalizing all drugs. Heroin is nasty stuff, even if you get the good one, and I would rather not encourage using stimulants stronger than caffeine in our overworked society.
- TedShiller 5y agoThose prison sentences are surprisingly light for the crime. I guess it still pays to deal drugs
- s1artibartfast 5y agoThe article says the captain was paid 50k euros per trip. I wouldn't call that a good deal for risk, both from the law and the cartels
- netizen-936824 5y agoIt shouldn't be a crime in the first place. Persecuting people for the substances they decide to consume is what harms people more than drugs themselves. If people had a place they could easily purchase tested and regulated drugs we wouldn't have so many overdoses. In the past most overdoses were produced by changes in potency of the supply due to differences in cutting or manufacture. Now alongside that issue is the one of fentanyl and analogs being added to the supply. Regulation would solve these issues instead of ruining people's lives with punishment based on puritanical ideals
- schleck8 5y agoIt's way more complicated than this. Most drugs are highly addictive, and when theoretical legal supplies deny addicts access to them, they'll turn to illegal means. No matter how clean the substance is.
- netizen-936824 5y agoOkay so if its legal why are they getting denied? We already have extremely addictive substances that are legal (ethanol and nicotine) and nobody is really being denied those but people still smuggle them across state lines from places with lower prices (sometimes to sell for profit) And of course then if someone is attempting to obtain something which they are denied by law, it is no longer legal so by definition it is illegal The statement you make is rather circular and doesn't say much.
- londons_explore 5y agoIt's my understanding that the arrival port usually does inspections and stuff. From that, it would seem it's probably easy to get anything onto a cargo ship - simply buy a container and put whatever you like into it. Why did they have to bother with the speedboats and nets? And at the same time... How did they plan to land these drugs? Their whole scheme doesn't cover inspections at the arrival port.
- mwattsun 5y agoFirst part of your question, the loading ports in S. America are watched very closely according to at least one documentary I watched. Second part, I wondered that myself and this is what I came up with: I'm assuming since this was a Euro operation and they were busted in Philadelphia on their way to Europe, the plan was to unload onto speed boats before pulling into port in Europe.
- fundad 5y ago$1B doesn't buy as much coke as you'd think
- newsclues 5y agoOr they had multiple containers, and only one got caught.
- AdamJacobMuller 5y ago> Kavaja’s court docket Can't seem to figure out which court this was in to try to find a copy, but, I imagine it would be a super interesting read
- tehwebguy 5y agoConsiderate of them to limit their carbon footprint