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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

#81

Post by NotSammyHagar »

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…

But you could just suck it up, get a regular job and do 9 to 5 5 days a week. If you lived in those countries, they have a great social network. It's not like he was living in Somalia and this was his only way out.

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

#82

Post by [deleted] »

NotSammyHagar wrote: post #81
jacquesm wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

But you could just suck it up, get a regular job and do 9 to 5 5 days a week. If you lived in those countries, they have a great social network. It's not like he was living in Somalia and this was his only way out.

[deleted]

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

#83

Post by farahday »

jacquesm wrote: post #72
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...

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-...

I don't think enquiring about the welfare of the kid is out of line. A simple 'he is living with a relative', 'foster care' would have sufficed and would not be a breach of privacy. You told an interesting story and it's completely natural people are curious how the situation unfolded.

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

#84

Post by yahwhatev »

isnetea wrote: post #70
jdietrich wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Large-scale smuggling is highly professionalised and hugely lucrative. We're not talking about some guy with a boat, we're talking about an organisation that rivals a multinational corporation by almost any metric. One of the biggest exporters of cocaine in recent years was FARC, a Columbian rebel group that acted as the de-facto government of large areas of Columbia. Their operation was sufficiently sophisticated th…

The correct spelling is Colombia.

Deutschland, Italia, Colombia.

Germany, Italy, Columbia.

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

#85

Post by Armisael16 »

yahwhatev wrote: post #84
isnetea wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The correct spelling is Colombia.

Deutschland, Italia, Colombia. Germany, Italy, Columbia.

Not if we’re talking about the country. It’s still spelled Colombia in English.

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

#86

Post by jacquesm »

farahday wrote: post #83
jacquesm wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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-...

I don't think enquiring about the welfare of the kid is out of line. A simple 'he is living with a relative', 'foster care' would have sufficed and would not be a breach of privacy. You told an interesting story and it's completely natural people are curious how the situation unfolded.

The story is about the father, the fact that he had a child figured into his reasoning (and in the wrong way) which is why I mentioned it.

It's a small world and not all curiosity is good, the basic story does not change and the whereabouts of the child are about as private a piece of information that I possess.

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

#87

Post by piva00 »

yahwhatev wrote: post #84
isnetea wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The correct spelling is Colombia.

Deutschland, Italia, Colombia. Germany, Italy, Columbia.

Not sure if you tried to correct OP but if so, you are wrong. [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia

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