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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

#21

Post by blhack »

tgrass wrote: post #11
startupfounder wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Well...the drones aren't exactly huge, and they're flying really high up in the air, so it's doubtful that you'd see them.

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#22

Post by vecinu »

dsirijus wrote: post #17
wmf wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. :)

Numerous drug submarines have been uncovered since the article was written. It seems that they are badly made, some sink, others just break down.

I found their software engineering to be much more advanced than their submarines.

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#23

Post by 46Bit »

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?

I would assume they weren't new planes: likely easier to buy them off a company in a country with lax regulation than get Boeing to build you one.

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#24

Post by blhack »

vecinu wrote: post #19
wmf wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I've heard more than one hacker say with lots of humor and hushed speaking something along the lines of:

"You know if I wanted to..."

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#25

Post by vecinu »

rst wrote: post #18
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...

> She says in 2009, a group of Nextel technicians who were repairing cell towers in Tamaulipas were abducted from their hotel.

Fascinating. You're fixing a tower in the morning and then you're forced to work for some crazy cartel boss for the rest of your life. These people are destroying honest families.

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#26

Post by gregpilling »

tgrass wrote: post #11
startupfounder wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The blimp is out of Ft Huachuca and it is equipped with cameras, and there is a drone unit stationed there also. I sold some test equipment there in 1999 to TRW, now named something else.

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#27

Post by gwern »

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?

'Money doesn't stink', as the Roman Emperor said. Who's to say they aren't selling?

But in any case, money and planes are pretty fungible. Perhaps they use straw buyers, or perhaps they simply buy used. Plenty of 747s out there now.

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#28

Post by blhack »

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 is also a really tall tethered balloon around there somewhere.

Well...at least there is on the map, :-P, I've never seen it in real life.

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#29

Post by revelation »

This is a 101 on capitalism. Raw capitalism, where killing someone is cheaper than settling on a solution that works for everyone. One where power amasses. But most importantly: where all actors are innovating. You can be amazed at crudely built submarines and private cell relay stations but really its just market pressure at work.

Which brings us back to the obvious conclusion: prohibition doesn't work; the market will find its way. It doesn't need intricate portraits like this one to make that clear.

Re: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions

#30

Post by refurb »

46Bit wrote: post #23
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?

I would assume they weren't new planes: likely easier to buy them off a company in a country with lax regulation than get Boeing to build you one.

Exactly. Lots of relatively undeveloped nations have their own carriers.

I can't imagine it would be than hard to buy a used 747 from a state with a dictator that was hard up for money.

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