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How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

nytimes.com

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Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#11

Post by tgrass »

startupfounder wrote: post #9
tgrass wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the border in Arizona, south of Sierra Vista. I often drive the international road and rarely see anyone else...not even border patrol. One does not need a catapult. http://postimage.org/image/wtie29yrb/

Are drones patrolling the area from above?

There's a conspicuous blimp that flies about sixty miles to the north. I'm not sure of drones. I camp out there a lot and have never seen them.

[edit] it's an aerostat, not a blimp: Fort Huachuca is about fifteen miles to the north and "is home to a radar-equipped aerostat, one of a series maintained for the Drug Enforcement Administration by Lockheed Martin. The aerostat is based northeast of Garden Canyon and, when extended, supports the DEA drug interdiction mission by detecting low-flying aircraft attempting to penetrate the United States."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Huachuca

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#14

Post by tgrass »

gregpilling wrote: post #10
tgrass wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the border in Arizona, south of Sierra Vista. I often drive the international road and rarely see anyone else...not even border patrol. One does not need a catapult. http://postimage.org/image/wtie29yrb/

I have ridden along that on my motorcycle and noted the many places that the barbed wire was cut and their were large vehicle tracks running across the border. Spent all day down there a couple of times doing some fun dual sport riding and not once was I questioned by a Border Patrol officer. The border is basically unsecured around there and as far as the eye can see to the east.

Which is why it's one of my favorite spots.

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#15

Post by fkn »

I'd be interested in knowing how they were able to buy Boeing 747s. Those are huge transactions, you can't simply buy planes with cash.

I would assume that it would be through shell companies, but wouldn't (or shouldn't) Boeing be careful about who their customers are?

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#17

Post by dsirijus »

wmf wrote: post #12
jboggan wrote: post #5

I'd be really curious to know what their IT department looks like.

http://web.archive.org/web/20021014183134/http://www.busines...

Well, 'cept the subs part, it doesn't really sound like much. Someone should offer them services. :)

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#18

Post by rst »

jboggan wrote: post #5

I'd be really curious to know what their IT department looks like.

Apparently, they're not above acquiring IT staff by kidnapping and forced labor. Like the Nextel techs described here, who are probably being forced into maintaining one cartel's private cell phone network:

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/09/143442365/mexico-busts-drug-ca...

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#19

Post by vecinu »

wmf wrote: post #12
jboggan wrote: post #5

I'd be really curious to know what their IT department looks like.

http://web.archive.org/web/20021014183134/http://www.busines...

> They even use a fleet of submarines, mini-subs, and semisubmersibles to ferry drugs -- sometimes, ingeniously, to larger ships hauling cargoes of hazardous waste, in which the insulated bales of cocaine are stashed. "Those ships never get a close inspection, no matter what country you're in,"

That's interesting...I wonder if these ships are actually getting inspected now (since the article is from 2002) since they are a known transportation vessel.

> The mainframe was loaded with custom-written data-mining software.

> Most of the cartels' technology is American-made; many of the experts who run it are American-trained.

American-trained or Americans? I wonder if 'hackers' actually go to these countries to earn some big bucks while developing some "cutting-edge" technologies.

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#20

Post by peregrine »

fkn wrote: post #15

I'd be interested in knowing how they were able to buy Boeing 747s. Those are huge transactions, you can't simply buy planes with cash. I would assume that it would be through shell companies, but wouldn't (or shouldn't) Boeing be careful about who their customers are?

Times are not great for plane airlines, I'm sure a struggling airline CEO would have no issue selling a plane to ShellCorp with a large bag of money.
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