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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?

#111

Post by csears »

Nathanba wrote: post #86
TheAlchemist wrote: post #80

There was an article about disappearing engineers - the ones working on communications. Cartels figured they need somebody to setup sophisticated communication systems - do you think they asked a company for help ? They just kidnapped the people they found working on communications towers, made them do the job, then buried them. Sorry but your idea of trying to work with a cartel is beyond stupid. With a lot of luck,…

yes I think he doesnt seem to understand that the absolute last thing that you want is to be known by criminals. For anything. Next time they need an X done where X is whatever your job happens to be, they know who to get

That's not lost on me. Obviously it would be a tough balance to strike to remain "useful" to the cartels, while not being "too useful" that they would feel the need to exert control. That's why I'm interested in educating myself more fully on the whole situation so I can make an informed risk assessment. If there's no path forward that also kept my family and myself safe, I won't pursue it further.

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

#112

Post by ttul »

Instead of risking your life, ruining your career, and ending up on do-not-fly lists, why not get involved in politics? If your idea has merit, promote it through the actual democratic process. Your concept of working with cartels is beyond ridiculous and I wonder how you could have possibly developed such a naive and flawed view of how crime works.

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

#113

Post by Aerbil313 »

csears wrote: post #73
valar_m wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the benefit for you personally to do this? Do you see a potential business opportunity or something?

I've touched on this in a few other replies, but I'll restate here: I'm not interested in making money from this. It would feel really rewarding if I could (directly or indirectly) save someone's life or prevent some act of senseless violence. Even if there's only a small chance of achieving one of those outcomes, don't we have a moral obligation to pursue something like that? Years ago, one of my wife's friends was…

OP, you would have better chance with Islam than your idea. Muslims are avoiding all kinds of mind-altering substances successfully for 14 centuries, what you propose would be a workaround and a compromise. See the email titled my username for more info.

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

#114

Post by csears »

valar_m wrote: post #70
csears wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see your point. That is certainly a possibility. Although it would be highly inconvenient to be arrested or get in trouble with the feds, it would make for an interesting story at parties. That's always been something I've struggled with. So... silver lining? A lot of historical figures I respect have been arrested for standing by their convictions. So I would be in good company. It also could turn into a good oppo…

Just some friendly advice man, I seriously doubt your company wants to be associated with any of this, so you may want to take them out of your profile. The west coast is waking up soon, don't wait around to do it.

Good point. I have removed my employers from my bio. I don't think there was any implication that they were at all involved or endorsed anything I'm saying here, but it never hurts to avoid any potential backlash. Thanks for pointing that out.

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

#115

Post by ttul »

csears wrote: post #64
ss1996 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's good to know. I've only done a little initial research around this. I ordered some test strips from a manufacture called MD-Bio ( https://mdbio.com ). I'll be sure to review all their instructions and safety info. Out of curiosity, are you saying that a Fentanyl level can be so low that it's undetectable by the test strips, but still high enough to kill someone?

First, fentanyl is only one of many adjuvants that are mixed with illegal street drugs. Far more exotic compounds exist and are circulating. The issue is that illegal drug labs aren’t necessarily mixing the adjuvant in correctly. There can be “hot spots” where a granule of the toxic drug is not properly distributed, leading to some part of a sample having a vastly higher concentration than others.

So when you test your drugs with the test strip, if the hot spot isn’t in the test sample, you’re gonna die. And many of the adjuvants do not resolve with Narcan.

There is no way to reduce the risk of illegally produced drugs to a tolerable level in today’s environment. Don’t kid yourself. Tell you daughter she runs a serious risk of death even with testing. This shit is no joke.

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

#117

Post by FormerBandmate »

csears wrote: post #111
Nathanba wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes I think he doesnt seem to understand that the absolute last thing that you want is to be known by criminals. For anything. Next time they need an X done where X is whatever your job happens to be, they know who to get

That's not lost on me. Obviously it would be a tough balance to strike to remain "useful" to the cartels, while not being "too useful" that they would feel the need to exert control. That's why I'm interested in educating myself more fully on the whole situation so I can make an informed risk assessment. If there's no path forward that also kept my family and myself safe, I won't pursue it further.

You’re thinking of cartel members like they’re VCs. They’re gangsters. They “assert control” over everything and everyone, that’s what gangsters do and they’re literally the worst ones around. There is no way you can do anything with them that will not put yourself and your family in danger

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

#119

Post by csears »

duped wrote: post #79
csears wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see your point. That is certainly a possibility. Although it would be highly inconvenient to be arrested or get in trouble with the feds, it would make for an interesting story at parties. That's always been something I've struggled with. So... silver lining? A lot of historical figures I respect have been arrested for standing by their convictions. So I would be in good company. It also could turn into a good oppo…

It'll be a fun story at parties after you serve up to 4 years in federal prison for each time you use a communication device in this venture (21 USC § 843 b) and then get to spend however many years in state prisons for criminal facilitation. Just keep in mind there's no parole for Federal crimes.

So you're saying that Zoom would be a bad option?

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

#120

Post by mettamage »

Michelangelo11 wrote: post #99
csears wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

If you fail, you'll probably be too dismembered (or too jailed) to pay anyone anything. Honestly I can't believe a grown adult with a daughter old enough to be starting college says he wants to get into business with Mexican cartels just to prove a random internet stranger wrong. It sounds like a 10-year-old's understanding of the world.

Many tech company CEOs sound like a 10 year old in the same way. I think he's coming from that place. Remember Google with "don't be evil"?

That's way too simplistic of a phrase, something a 10 year old would say. I think this type of optimistic thinking that csears does is coming from the same line / vibe.

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