9 ms·

Two Mexican drug cartels came to dominate America’s fentanyl supply

41 points by lxm 4y ago

gardenfelder 4y ago
You cannot have dominant players in a supply chin if there is no demand
- julienreszka 4y ago
  What are you suggesting exactly.
  - notart666 4y ago
    Not op. But that they lured addicted people of other substances and blackmailed them into creating their cartels like they all do. Building loyal "family members to ensure proper chains of command and heavily militarizing to deal with non complicit individuals and police.
    - gardenfelder 4y ago
      Well stated. When I said "you cannot have such a supply chain without demand", I had in mind, the notion that there are society-wide issues in play which are ignored in favor of funding a massive "war on drugs". Maybe misplaced societal priorities? I cannot say; that's way above my pay grade, but it's clear to me that, in the broad vistas of human behaviors, we (the big we) do not seem to have a clear picture of what's really going on.
  - wudangmonk 4y ago
    I think we are all tiptoeing around the issue to be honest. What is the actual problem here and what can be a possible solution?. The problem is obviously that these cartels from MEXICO are taking away high paying jobs away from AMERICAN drug dealers. One of the possible solutions is to intervene so that those jobs come back to America.
    - Scoundreller 4y ago
      These FOREIGNERS with their synthetic drugs have bankrupted every opium den in my town, and along with it, honorable poppy farming jobs. Now they’re stuck growing KALE for LllllliBERALS just to afford steak for their children’s breakfast.
- driggs 4y ago
  Quoth the article: > The cartels “don’t just fill a void, they create a market,” Mr. Dhillon said.
- erdos4d 4y ago
  - voisin 4y ago
    Not op but legalizing drugs to purify the supply chain, collect taxes, and give people a safe place to do the things they would otherwise do anyways seems like efficient allocation of resources with the benefit of starving the cartels.
    - mminer237 4y ago
      I don't think legalizing fentanyl is a good idea at all. Look at how many people were killed by easy access to Oxycodone. It's said that one use of heroin will turn someone into an addict, and something like 2% of opioid addicts die per year. Legalizing drugs may make things safer per person, but it will also increase the number of users. Legalizing fentanyl would just flood the streets with something even more potent than heroin and get millions more addicted.
      - mysecretaccount 4y ago
        There are steps that can be taken to provide addicts with legal access to their fix in a way that removes cartels from the supply chain and does not equate to "legalizing fentanyl".
        sdvsa 4y ago
        Ok. I'll bite. What are the steps?
        Scoundreller 4y ago
        Methadone-type programs, but for other substances. Ie: go to a doctor or similar health worker, get a prescription for the thing you’re dependent on, pick up that prescription, do your thing and go on with life. Is this “giving drugs to drug addicts”? Yes.
- atwood22 4y ago
  The cartels are also extorting avocado farmers for a cut of their profits. It turns out that, if you have a lot of bad people in power, they find ways to do bad things for personal enrichment.
  - ct0 4y ago
    I stopped buying avocados for this reason. Its the only way to win.
    - Scoundreller 4y ago
      Easy for you if you can just start and stop avocados whenever you like, but what about the rest of us addicts?
    - robocat 4y ago
      Why? You are punishing the avocado growers more than the cartels. Corruption is rife. Every single transaction you make in an economy contains a percentage of evil (example: surely you disagree with some of what your government does): how did you decide that avocados are beyond your limit and carrots are not?
      - ct0 4y ago
        Its simply easier to track back the effects of the cartel in avacado's than anything else in my purchase radar. But mostly because of this story. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/08/monarch-butterflies-under-threat-mexico-aoe https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/08/monarch-... With the price of avocados pushing higher and higher, I think there is too much money in avocado the avocado trade. Farming is basically limited to specific areas. Lowering demand (how ever small) is making a measurable change that I fell like I am contributing to. Voting with my dollars is the only true ways to make a change. As much as this might "hurt" the farmers, it is also hurting the cartel.
irthomasthomas 4y ago
- mistrial9 4y ago
  isn't MX the country where four dozen activist college students were murdered, many years later a senior, acting Federal attorney was arrested for the covering up the investigation? (edit)
  - realce 4y ago
    It was 43 and a reporter that recently released updated information about that attorney and a local mayor who was involved was killed hours after publication just last month. https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/mexican-journalist-fredid-roman-killed-hours-after-story-about-43-students-who-vanished/news-story/b46d24791b923904a9b7f753b5277259 https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/mexic...
  - chasd00 4y ago
    It's also the place where bloggers are routinely killed for blogging about crime. Also, any new law enforcement agent announcing they're going to do something about crime is murdered within 24hrs or so. "Editor's note: Because of concerns over their ongoing safety in Mexico, the name of the reporter who wrote this story is not listed." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/11/29/mexican-drug-cartels-resume-tactic-of-hanging-bodies-from-bridges/8796578002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/11/29/mexica...
  - serial_dev 4y ago
    You are probably referring to this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Iguala_mass_kidnapping https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Iguala_mass_kidnapping There is also a Netflix docuseries about this, it's called The 43. If you search for "Ayotzinapa" you can find out more.
- ifsothen 4y ago
  And a lot of that violence spills over the border into the US. Bloody cartel murders, extortion, and such are common in the southwest US and beyond. The Mexican government and politicians are all somewhere in between being controlled by the cartels and too scared to do anything about them. That is casus belli, legal grounds for war, by any reasonable understanding of international law.
vorpalhex 4y ago
https://archive.ph/JpNRS https://archive.ph/JpNRS

41 points by lxm 4y ago

gardenfelder 4y ago

You cannot have dominant players in a supply chin if there is no demand

julienreszka 4y ago
What are you suggesting exactly.
- notart666 4y ago
  Not op. But that they lured addicted people of other substances and blackmailed them into creating their cartels like they all do. Building loyal "family members to ensure proper chains of command and heavily militarizing to deal with non complicit individuals and police.
  - gardenfelder 4y ago
    Well stated. When I said "you cannot have such a supply chain without demand", I had in mind, the notion that there are society-wide issues in play which are ignored in favor of funding a massive "war on drugs". Maybe misplaced societal priorities? I cannot say; that's way above my pay grade, but it's clear to me that, in the broad vistas of human behaviors, we (the big we) do not seem to have a clear picture of what's really going on.
- wudangmonk 4y ago
  I think we are all tiptoeing around the issue to be honest. What is the actual problem here and what can be a possible solution?. The problem is obviously that these cartels from MEXICO are taking away high paying jobs away from AMERICAN drug dealers. One of the possible solutions is to intervene so that those jobs come back to America.
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    These FOREIGNERS with their synthetic drugs have bankrupted every opium den in my town, and along with it, honorable poppy farming jobs. Now they’re stuck growing KALE for LllllliBERALS just to afford steak for their children’s breakfast.
driggs 4y ago
Quoth the article: > The cartels “don’t just fill a void, they create a market,” Mr. Dhillon said.
erdos4d 4y ago
- voisin 4y ago
  Not op but legalizing drugs to purify the supply chain, collect taxes, and give people a safe place to do the things they would otherwise do anyways seems like efficient allocation of resources with the benefit of starving the cartels.
  - mminer237 4y ago
    I don't think legalizing fentanyl is a good idea at all. Look at how many people were killed by easy access to Oxycodone. It's said that one use of heroin will turn someone into an addict, and something like 2% of opioid addicts die per year. Legalizing drugs may make things safer per person, but it will also increase the number of users. Legalizing fentanyl would just flood the streets with something even more potent than heroin and get millions more addicted.
    - mysecretaccount 4y ago
      There are steps that can be taken to provide addicts with legal access to their fix in a way that removes cartels from the supply chain and does not equate to "legalizing fentanyl".
      - sdvsa 4y ago
        Ok. I'll bite. What are the steps?
        Scoundreller 4y ago
        Methadone-type programs, but for other substances. Ie: go to a doctor or similar health worker, get a prescription for the thing you’re dependent on, pick up that prescription, do your thing and go on with life. Is this “giving drugs to drug addicts”? Yes.
atwood22 4y ago
The cartels are also extorting avocado farmers for a cut of their profits. It turns out that, if you have a lot of bad people in power, they find ways to do bad things for personal enrichment.
- ct0 4y ago
  I stopped buying avocados for this reason. Its the only way to win.
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    Easy for you if you can just start and stop avocados whenever you like, but what about the rest of us addicts?
  - robocat 4y ago
    Why? You are punishing the avocado growers more than the cartels. Corruption is rife. Every single transaction you make in an economy contains a percentage of evil (example: surely you disagree with some of what your government does): how did you decide that avocados are beyond your limit and carrots are not?
    - ct0 4y ago
      Its simply easier to track back the effects of the cartel in avacado's than anything else in my purchase radar. But mostly because of this story. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/08/monarch-butterflies-under-threat-mexico-aoe https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/08/monarch-... With the price of avocados pushing higher and higher, I think there is too much money in avocado the avocado trade. Farming is basically limited to specific areas. Lowering demand (how ever small) is making a measurable change that I fell like I am contributing to. Voting with my dollars is the only true ways to make a change. As much as this might "hurt" the farmers, it is also hurting the cartel.

irthomasthomas 4y ago

mistrial9 4y ago
isn't MX the country where four dozen activist college students were murdered, many years later a senior, acting Federal attorney was arrested for the covering up the investigation? (edit)
- realce 4y ago
  It was 43 and a reporter that recently released updated information about that attorney and a local mayor who was involved was killed hours after publication just last month. https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/mexican-journalist-fredid-roman-killed-hours-after-story-about-43-students-who-vanished/news-story/b46d24791b923904a9b7f753b5277259 https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/mexic...
- chasd00 4y ago
  It's also the place where bloggers are routinely killed for blogging about crime. Also, any new law enforcement agent announcing they're going to do something about crime is murdered within 24hrs or so. "Editor's note: Because of concerns over their ongoing safety in Mexico, the name of the reporter who wrote this story is not listed." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/11/29/mexican-drug-cartels-resume-tactic-of-hanging-bodies-from-bridges/8796578002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/11/29/mexica...
- serial_dev 4y ago
  You are probably referring to this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Iguala_mass_kidnapping https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Iguala_mass_kidnapping There is also a Netflix docuseries about this, it's called The 43. If you search for "Ayotzinapa" you can find out more.
ifsothen 4y ago
And a lot of that violence spills over the border into the US. Bloody cartel murders, extortion, and such are common in the southwest US and beyond. The Mexican government and politicians are all somewhere in between being controlled by the cartels and too scared to do anything about them. That is casus belli, legal grounds for war, by any reasonable understanding of international law.

vorpalhex 4y ago

https://archive.ph/JpNRS https://archive.ph/JpNRS