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Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

theguardian.com

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Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

#71

Post by nkurz »

jacquesm wrote: post #68
orthoxerox wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who's the kid with now? Does Australia let them live with their parent in prison?

The first question does not really deserve an answer, the second question is something that you could reason out for yourself.

I wouldn't assume that 'orthoxerox' is asking in bad faith. Are you aware that many countries do allow young children to join their mothers in prison? https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2018/0313/Serving-t...

The question of how to handle children who lose their sole caretaker to prison is a real issue without easy answers: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/12/03/how-incarcerat...

Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

#72

Post by jacquesm »

nkurz wrote: post #71
jacquesm wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first question does not really deserve an answer, the second question is something that you could reason out for yourself.

I wouldn't assume that 'orthoxerox' is asking in bad faith. Are you aware that many countries do allow young children to join their mothers in prison? https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2018/0313/Serving-t... The question of how to handle children who lose their sole caretaker to prison is a real issue without easy answers: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/12/03/how-incarcerat...

Agreed, but a simple Google search would give the answer and the first bit really is nobody's business.

https://www.loc.gov/law/help/children-residing-with-parents-...

Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

#73

Post by LifeLiverTransp »

GreeniFi wrote: post #2

I sometimes wonder about the psychology of people who try this sort of money-making venture, ie smuggling vast quantities of illegal drugs across the ocean. Do these “entrepreneurs” understand the risk they take, or do they pretend to themselves that there is no risk? Excepting where there is coercion, is it big balls or small brains? I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge d…

This is how a poor person imagines riches happen to befall any of us. They just happen, one lucky day, you dig and you find a pot of gold, or a ton of pot.

Its a reaction based worldview, where you do not control your own destiny, and wealth is something drained from you, that comes in large quantities by chance.

You do not manage what you got, slouch through a horrible existence to slowly improve yourself. Because that is what the others do, the chancers feed upon. The people who lead that life, are the customers of the drug dealers, those who have the chance to get ahead at the cost of others.

Riches are taken in large quantities by others, with stick up like scenarios- your landlord squeezes you for everything you got, the repair shop rips your wallet open, any accident makes you a indentured slave to the insurance company.

So in a hopeless life, daring to hope, when you get a risky chance, seems actually reasonable.

Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

#74

Post by DoreenMichele »

nkurz wrote: post #71
jacquesm wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first question does not really deserve an answer, the second question is something that you could reason out for yourself.

I wouldn't assume that 'orthoxerox' is asking in bad faith. Are you aware that many countries do allow young children to join their mothers in prison? https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2018/0313/Serving-t... The question of how to handle children who lose their sole caretaker to prison is a real issue without easy answers: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/12/03/how-incarcerat...

It's also a real issue where the privacy of the affected child in question should supercede the curiosity of random questioners on the internet.

There are better ways to try to publicly discuss such things. If someone actually cares about the welfare of the children, they shouldn't have a problem with being told "this is not a good question to ask." If they have a problem with it, that tends to say something about their actual priorities.

Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

#75

Post by bigDICK »

jacquesm wrote: post #54
GreeniFi wrote: post #2

I sometimes wonder about the psychology of people who try this sort of money-making venture, ie smuggling vast quantities of illegal drugs across the ocean. Do these “entrepreneurs” understand the risk they take, or do they pretend to themselves that there is no risk? Excepting where there is coercion, is it big balls or small brains? I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge d…

I'm not a smuggler, but I know one. Let's call him George. He's not currently available to tell his story so let me give you the abridged version. George ran a (very) successful business here in NL and in Belgium, made a lot of money and was doing just fine. Then in a short period of time his wife died and his business took a hit both from competition, regulation and because he wasn't paying as much attention to it a…

Today I learned a momentary lapse of judgement turns you into a full blown drug smuggler. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him? Am I supposed to envy him? You seem to think so.

Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

#76

Post by nkurz »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #74
nkurz wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't assume that 'orthoxerox' is asking in bad faith. Are you aware that many countries do allow young children to join their mothers in prison? https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2018/0313/Serving-t... The question of how to handle children who lose their sole caretaker to prison is a real issue without easy answers: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/12/03/how-incarcerat...

It's also a real issue where the privacy of the affected child in question should supercede the curiosity of random questioners on the internet. There are better ways to try to publicly discuss such things. If someone actually cares about the welfare of the children, they shouldn't have a problem with being told "this is not a good question to ask." If they have a problem with it, that tends to say something about th…

> It's also a real issue where the privacy of the affected child in question should supercede the curiosity of random questioners on the internet.

(also responding to jacquesm)

I think there are ways to answer the question that don't compromise the privacy of the child. And I mostly disagree with jacquesm's that the outcome of the child is "nobody's business".

This is a touching anecdote that humanizes a drug trafficker. There are lots of valid questions on how the laws around drugs should be structured and enforced. While anecdotal, being told "the father lost legal custody and the child is now a ward of the state living in a foster home" may impact how people think about long-term incarceration as a solution. And if this answer is "the child is living with his loving grandparents and doing well", while still anecdotal, this may have a different but equally valid impact.

But while 'jacquesm' is under no obligation to answer, I don't think it's wrong or necessarily impolite for 'orthoxerox' to ask about the outcome for the child.

Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

#77

Post by [deleted] »

nkurz wrote: post #76
DoreenMichele wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also a real issue where the privacy of the affected child in question should supercede the curiosity of random questioners on the internet. There are better ways to try to publicly discuss such things. If someone actually cares about the welfare of the children, they shouldn't have a problem with being told "this is not a good question to ask." If they have a problem with it, that tends to say something about th…

> It's also a real issue where the privacy of the affected child in question should supercede the curiosity of random questioners on the internet. (also responding to jacquesm) I think there are ways to answer the question that don't compromise the privacy of the child. And I mostly disagree with jacquesm's that the outcome of the child is "nobody's business". This is a touching anecdote that humanizes a drug traffic…

[deleted]

Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

#78

Post by [deleted] »

nkurz wrote: post #76
DoreenMichele wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also a real issue where the privacy of the affected child in question should supercede the curiosity of random questioners on the internet. There are better ways to try to publicly discuss such things. If someone actually cares about the welfare of the children, they shouldn't have a problem with being told "this is not a good question to ask." If they have a problem with it, that tends to say something about th…

> It's also a real issue where the privacy of the affected child in question should supercede the curiosity of random questioners on the internet. (also responding to jacquesm) I think there are ways to answer the question that don't compromise the privacy of the child. And I mostly disagree with jacquesm's that the outcome of the child is "nobody's business". This is a touching anecdote that humanizes a drug traffic…

[deleted]

Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

#79

Post by RandomBacon »

ngold wrote: post #18
RandomBacon wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read a brief post by someone why made decent money smuggling drugs in a prop plane across the US. He only did it a couple of times (didn't let greed take over). He didn't go into details, but I imagine some people feel like they can mitigate the risk, or don't have much to lose.

I remember reading that you have 2 years max to make money and get out before your guaranteed to get busted. It was a fun book. Personally I wouldn't recommend the lifestyle choice.

What book was that?

Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

#80

Post by refurb »

GreeniFi wrote: post #2

I sometimes wonder about the psychology of people who try this sort of money-making venture, ie smuggling vast quantities of illegal drugs across the ocean. Do these “entrepreneurs” understand the risk they take, or do they pretend to themselves that there is no risk? Excepting where there is coercion, is it big balls or small brains? I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge d…

I remember reading that the DEA seized 40 tones of cocaine one year. Sounds pretty good until they estimated nearly 10,000 tons made it into the US every year.

I would assume they’d tell you the chances were low enough to take a risk.

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