4 ms·

My best guess is a lack of willing participants combined with pressure from up top to move money to keep the operation going/meet targets. We also don't know h

My best guess is a lack of willing participants combined with pressure from up top to move money to keep the operation going/meet targets. We also don't know how much of that 500k is profit - maybe the margins in organised crime aren't what they used to be. Each $3,750 saved is money they can put straight into their pocket as their boss might never find out how many mules they ended up using. Or maybe the reporting is fishy

quartesixte 2y ago
3750 for committing serious crimes seems so low, one can only imagine the desperation or lack of value understanding involved with participants. Or coercion.
- kayodelycaon 2y ago
  I think it’s pretty simple. To many people, $3,750 is a huge amount of money. It’s easily several months salary. I think a lot of people would be relatively unaware of how illegal a given thing is and would instead see the amount of money being offered as representative of the risk. Too much and they would get suspicious.
  - titanomachy 2y ago
    This was the UK. I don’t think $4k is “many months salary” for a lot of people in the UK.
    - SoftTalker 2y ago
      It's certainly the case in the US for many people, why would it not be in the UK?
      - kortilla 2y ago
        Even at effective minimum wage of 11.80 an hour[1], that’s only 2 months of salary. That’s not life altering in any way and wouldn’t be worth prison time to people in general. People have to have been tricked about the risks or were coerced. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_Sta...
        benjaminwootton 2y ago
        People on minimum wage don’t get a chance to build savings are probably living month to month. Though it’s not an earth shattering of money it is meaningful to a lot of people.
        ben_w 2y ago
        Further to the same point, there's a cost of living crisis in the UK, so many people even above minimum wage are having to use food banks. I can easily believe someone in such a position would jump (well, politely queue, they are British) at a chance for a "mere" few thousand.
      - swarnie 2y ago
        Because we have a national minimum wage which works out to over 2k once converted in to USD. Even at the minimum legal level and without a raft of government hands outs which a person could expect its maybe 6-7 weeks salary. If we take the average salary then take home per month is pocket change short of $3000
- brewtide 2y ago
  The "kia boys" are out stealing car after car for $100 from interviews online. Incentives seem lower than we all think?
  - nyokodo 2y ago
    > Incentives seem lower than we all think? The income for most criminals is a pittance. [1] 1. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-apr-24-oe-dubner24-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-apr-24-oe-dubne...
  - ceroxylon 2y ago
    Sometimes they don't even get/want the $100 and just joyride until they run out of gas to post the footage on social media.
- yodsanklai 2y ago
  I remember some very sad news about a drug smuggler, a poor woman from the Philippines, condemned to an insanely harsh sentence in Singapore (perhaps even death penalty?). At least, the UK justice system should be less cruel.
  - FabHK 2y ago
    One? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Singapore#Drug_trafficking_cases https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Singapor...

quartesixte 2y ago

3750 for committing serious crimes seems so low, one can only imagine the desperation or lack of value understanding involved with participants. Or coercion.

kayodelycaon 2y ago
I think it’s pretty simple. To many people, $3,750 is a huge amount of money. It’s easily several months salary. I think a lot of people would be relatively unaware of how illegal a given thing is and would instead see the amount of money being offered as representative of the risk. Too much and they would get suspicious.
- titanomachy 2y ago
  This was the UK. I don’t think $4k is “many months salary” for a lot of people in the UK.
  - SoftTalker 2y ago
    It's certainly the case in the US for many people, why would it not be in the UK?
    - kortilla 2y ago
      Even at effective minimum wage of 11.80 an hour[1], that’s only 2 months of salary. That’s not life altering in any way and wouldn’t be worth prison time to people in general. People have to have been tricked about the risks or were coerced. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_Sta...
      - benjaminwootton 2y ago
        People on minimum wage don’t get a chance to build savings are probably living month to month. Though it’s not an earth shattering of money it is meaningful to a lot of people.
        ben_w 2y ago
        Further to the same point, there's a cost of living crisis in the UK, so many people even above minimum wage are having to use food banks. I can easily believe someone in such a position would jump (well, politely queue, they are British) at a chance for a "mere" few thousand.
    - swarnie 2y ago
      Because we have a national minimum wage which works out to over 2k once converted in to USD. Even at the minimum legal level and without a raft of government hands outs which a person could expect its maybe 6-7 weeks salary. If we take the average salary then take home per month is pocket change short of $3000
brewtide 2y ago
The "kia boys" are out stealing car after car for $100 from interviews online. Incentives seem lower than we all think?
- nyokodo 2y ago
  > Incentives seem lower than we all think? The income for most criminals is a pittance. [1] 1. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-apr-24-oe-dubner24-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-apr-24-oe-dubne...
- ceroxylon 2y ago
  Sometimes they don't even get/want the $100 and just joyride until they run out of gas to post the footage on social media.
yodsanklai 2y ago
I remember some very sad news about a drug smuggler, a poor woman from the Philippines, condemned to an insanely harsh sentence in Singapore (perhaps even death penalty?). At least, the UK justice system should be less cruel.
- FabHK 2y ago
  One? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Singapore#Drug_trafficking_cases https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Singapor...