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Ask HN: How could I safely contact drug cartels?

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Re: Ask HN: How could I safely contact drug cartels?

#31

Post by lawgimenez »

csears wrote: post #15
raincom wrote: post #11

Have you read the court transcripts of El Chapo trial? Maybe, better read them, before you think you can safely contact drug cartels. Drug cartels are at least three moves away from your local drug dealer. Cartel folks deal with the wholesale distributors, who are some high level gang operatives. So, you can't even go past the first two levels, let alone the local high level gang operatives. These high level wholesal…

I have read a few things about cartel org structures, but most of my knowledge is based on The Wire and Breaking Bad, and obviously those probably aren't too close to reality. The El Chapo transcripts are a great suggestion. Much appreciated.

You should be watching Netflix’s Narcos instead. Or you can contact some reporter at Vice News who interviewed several capos in the cartel. Maybe get some intro from them.

Re: Ask HN: How could I safely contact drug cartels?

#32

Post by xcdzvyn »

csears wrote: post #20
discretion22 wrote: post #17

I thought this was some sort of parody or joke - it sounds like some sort of Nigerian Prince scam pitch - but from your responses you are either genius at playing the whole thing straight or you are seriously out your depth and literally risking your life for no good reason. First off, saying that you have an idea to "improve their [Cartels] profit margins" by itself is enough to fall foul of the US DEA. Even if you…

Nope, not a joke. Currently more of a thought experiment that could turn into a startup if it really seems viable. I'm in the US and I would actually be very interested in chatting with the DEA about my idea. If it turns out there is no legal way to move ahead with my idea, I won't pursue it further. As I said, I'm not even sure what kind of lawyer I could contact to get advice about this kind of thing. Saul Goodman?…

> If it turns out there is no legal way to move ahead with my idea,

No, there is no legal way to "move ahead" with abetting drug cartels.

Re: Ask HN: How could I safely contact drug cartels?

#35

Post by badpun »

xcdzvyn wrote: post #32
csears wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, not a joke. Currently more of a thought experiment that could turn into a startup if it really seems viable. I'm in the US and I would actually be very interested in chatting with the DEA about my idea. If it turns out there is no legal way to move ahead with my idea, I won't pursue it further. As I said, I'm not even sure what kind of lawyer I could contact to get advice about this kind of thing. Saul Goodman?…

> If it turns out there is no legal way to move ahead with my idea, No, there is no legal way to "move ahead" with abetting drug cartels.

I always wonder where's the legal boundary of abetting. If I sell a cartel member a pack of chewing gum at a gas station, I'm probably not abetting. But what if I'm a book store owner, I know the customer is a chemist for the cartel, and I sell him a chemistry book? Is that criminal? Why/why not?

Re: Ask HN: How could I safely contact drug cartels?

#37

Post by withinboredom »

In my limited experience with “Cartels”… there are two kinds of people: ruthless and rational; ruthless and irrational. If they are anywhere near the top, you can bet they are the first type.

It seems you want to deal with multiple cartels at the same time. This is suicide. If you do it anyway, treat them all equally, show no favoritism, never compare them. Think of it as having a bunch of aunt/uncles who always tell you that you’re their favorite. They’ll buy you gifts to get you to say it back.

The other side of this: if your software has a bug and causes profits to go down… you might be on the hook for that. Make sure you make it clear that you aren’t responsible for their profits. Yes, your software MAY increase their profits, but they’re responsible for execution, not your software.

Note, this is second-hand advice from a friend.

Re: Ask HN: How could I safely contact drug cartels?

#38

Post by ss1996 »

csears wrote: post #24
raincom wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be careful dealing with federal agents and federal agencies. They can get you for "lying to federal agents". Always have a lawyer next to you, so that this lawyer can take notes, thereby preventing you from being charged under "trumped up charges". I don't know why you are exploring this area, unless you want to spend some time in some federal penitentiary.

Good advice. I know there have been situations where federal agencies have turned out to be "the bad guys", but I guess I'm optimistic that they are generally smart, well intentioned, and interested in some of the same outcomes that I'm talking about. As to why I'm exploring this, it's just a topic I've been thinking about lately. My daughter is starting college in the fall and they've had a lot of deaths over the la…

Fyi, Fentanyl strips are not full proof. This is because the amount of Fentanyl mixed is so small, there is high likelihood that no Fentanyl is picked up in the tested sample. In other words, high chance of false negatives. Test kits + narcan on hand is the best way to be safe.

Re: Ask HN: How could I safely contact drug cartels?

#39

Post by kuhewa »

Fricken wrote: post #23
raincom wrote: post #11

Have you read the court transcripts of El Chapo trial? Maybe, better read them, before you think you can safely contact drug cartels. Drug cartels are at least three moves away from your local drug dealer. Cartel folks deal with the wholesale distributors, who are some high level gang operatives. So, you can't even go past the first two levels, let alone the local high level gang operatives. These high level wholesal…

I stayed in a small village In Michoacan on the pacific coast in Mexico for a few weeks on a surf trip. This was 2009, but everybody in town knew "The Big Guy". He paid for schools and roads, ate at the local restaurants, attended church on special occasions. I wouldn't argue there's a safe or easy way to get access to a guy like this, but I doubt it's necessary to go to through drug supply chain. Make friends with t…

> Make friends with the locals.

Maybe the Big Guy might even give a harmless surf bum a head nod in passing if he's being respectful in town. But going down into cartel country to seek out local capos and befriend them for drug business purposes is absolutely horrible advice.

Re: Ask HN: How could I safely contact drug cartels?

#40

Post by Traubenfuchs »

csears wrote: post #20
discretion22 wrote: post #17

I thought this was some sort of parody or joke - it sounds like some sort of Nigerian Prince scam pitch - but from your responses you are either genius at playing the whole thing straight or you are seriously out your depth and literally risking your life for no good reason. First off, saying that you have an idea to "improve their [Cartels] profit margins" by itself is enough to fall foul of the US DEA. Even if you…

Nope, not a joke. Currently more of a thought experiment that could turn into a startup if it really seems viable. I'm in the US and I would actually be very interested in chatting with the DEA about my idea. If it turns out there is no legal way to move ahead with my idea, I won't pursue it further. As I said, I'm not even sure what kind of lawyer I could contact to get advice about this kind of thing. Saul Goodman?…

If you decide at any point not to go ahead, please make your ideas and research public.
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