
Mexico’s drug cartels are moving into the gasoline industry - elsherbini
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/drug-war-mexico-gas-oil-cartel-717563/
======
HarryHirsch
Recommended movie: _Elite Squad_ and especially the sequel _Elite Squad: Enemy
Within_.

It's about BOPE, the special operations unit of Rio de Janeiro police. The
first is about the military anti-gang exploits, the second is a good hard look
at what corruption looks like. The drugs aren't going away if you break up a
cartel, neither is the money.

~~~
gt565k
I'd certainly add City of God and City of Men to that list.

Along with Elite Squad, these movies are simply amazing.

Wagner Moura. the main character in Elite Squad, also stars as Pablo Escobar
in Netflix's original series Narcos.

[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0609944/?ref_=tt_cl_t1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0609944/?ref_=tt_cl_t1)

~~~
duxup
For some reason City of God to me was just some stylizing ... on top of some
shocking violence that happened to involve a lot of kids. I really missed
whatever was supposed to be great about that film...

~~~
cambalache
It is poverty porn for middle class people. I cannot talk about the rest of
the world, but one of the main reasons a large portion of Latin-American
movies suck it is because of the huge disconnect between the middle-upper
class people who do them and the more 'salt of the earth" common folk who are
portrayed on them.

~~~
duxup
Sometimes I wonder if that is the case.

I felt City of God occasionally seemed to have some sympathy for the
subjects... but other times treated them like characters and video game
NPCs...

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samstave
How much cocaine can you dissolve in gasoline-based/like solvents to smuggle
and then reconstitute? How much cash can you smuggle in the middle of a fuel
tanker?

How easily/efficiently can oil companies launder money?

Why is no one addressing the seemingly obvious truth that the entire world is
nothing but a complex corrupt criminal system of lies? Or am I just far too
cynical?

~~~
paulie_a
The Russian mob did that with the rail distillery McCormick. They dyed the
vodka blue and would ship it as window cleaner in 55 gallon drums. Then remove
the dye to avoid taxes.

~~~
opportune
Shitty vodka is so cheap and easy to make, you would think it would be better
to just produce the vodka as close to the point of sale as possible

~~~
samstave
Taxes and snooping about to the point where they need to have a big
facility...

------
syntaxing
I always wondering how the US managed to tame the Mafia in the early 20s to
late 70s. Is there something the Mexican government can mimic or is there
something either political or cultural that prevents this?

~~~
abledon
I heard it was due to the corporations moving in and getting stronger. Their
lawyers were far more ruthless.

~~~
savanaly
Certainly, that was depicted in the movie Casino for example. Not that I would
take a Hollywood movie as any sort of history lesson, but it is demonstrative
of that point of view. Taking it as the true explanation for the sake of
argument, why does the same thing not happen in Mexico?

------
2_listerine_pls
> “This guy grabs his phone and dials up the general. For $50,000 and 50 kilos
> of marijuana, they let him go. He also gave up 10,000 pesos he had on his
> person. That’s how it works with los militares.”

~~~
sebastianavina
maybe 50 kilos of cocaine. but marijuana? that shit is worthless even in
mexico

~~~
2_listerine_pls
So that their platoon has something to smoke.

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crb002
Construction is still king for money laundering. $1 bulldozer rental here,
$500 toilet seat there, just like a bank for deposits and withdrawals.

~~~
poisonarena
hey so I noticed you were getting downvoted, but in a way you are right.. I
worked at a large bank in mexico and construction business is divided by
different firms, some more corrupt than others, the construction isn't really
controlled by cartels or mafias, but their own construction corrupt
syndicates, kinda.. but definitely it is a pain to deal with them when they
decide certain bribes are not enough, they often block entrances to buildings
with heavy machines or interfere in other construction firms work.. But is is
a seperate problem from drug cartels completely

~~~
turtlecloud
Ya. In the US a lot of the cement companies are owned by Italians. Former
mafia members I presume.

~~~
GordonS
Stereotype much?

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earthwrldshaman
From one narcotic to another..makes business sense

------
21
This story collapses a lot of popular narratives.

That peoples in USA buying drugs are the drivers of violence in Mexico.

That legalizing drugs would make the cartels and the violence disappear.

~~~
remarkEon
>That legalizing drugs would make the cartels and the violence disappear.

I'm _super_ skeptical of this argument. My sense is that they'd just diversify
into other industries and create their own black markets - and it seems
they're already doing this.

~~~
vermontdevil
Like the American mafia after alcohol prohibition ended.

~~~
remarkEon
The institutions of Civil Society in Mexico and the United States are
_extremely_ different, both in terms of their scope and adherence to rule of
law. Mexican Cartel activity today and organized crime of the post-prohibition
era in the United States are not exactly apples to apples.

Edit: I'm probably not being clear ... I don't disagree with your point.
You're correct that they diversified. I just don't think it's wise to use that
as a good proxy.

------
nickbauman
Mexico, along with Russia, are the two most notorious mafia states. And notice
the problems have been getting worse as the amount of oil diminishes, which
was predicted. This, on our own doorstep, cannot be contained and will affect
our own country. There will be even more refugees, too, because of this.

~~~
gambiting
>> This, on our own doorstep, cannot be contained and will affect our own
country.

Just FYI, not everyone on HN is from US.

~~~
samstave
Sure, but the entire world is/can-be affected by the actions of the US as a
whole.

~~~
MBCook
What an understatement. For better or worse.

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beenBoutIT
"The armed conflict between the cartels and Mexico’s military, which has
dragged on for 12 years, now ranks as the deadliest war in the world apart
from Syria."

Do people still voluntarily go on holiday in Mexico?

~~~
allannienhuis
Pretty sure the vast majority of the gang/cartel related violence doesn't take
place in the tourist areas, and that the few reports we hear about where a
tourist has been involved in some violence are a tiny percentage of the
overall problem. I've never had the feeling that tourists in the main tourist
areas in Mexico were any less safe than at home.

Certainly I'd be more afraid of my safety in many parts of most major US
cities.

~~~
cpncrunch
[https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-
and-s...](https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-security)

"Crime and violence are serious problems in Mexico and the security situation
can pose a risk for foreigners"

"There have been a number of violent car-jackings and robberies along the
Pacific Highway and you should be careful when travelling on this route. "

[https://globalnews.ca/news/4171527/cancun-mexico-violence-
tr...](https://globalnews.ca/news/4171527/cancun-mexico-violence-travel-
global-affairs/)

"Canadians travel to Mexico more than any other country except the United
States. But many visitors may be unaware of the growing violence in a main
city that was once hailed as one of the country’s safest: Cancun. This week,
five people were found dead near the public prosecutor’s office in the city on
the Yucatán Peninsula, bringing the death toll by violence in the beach city
to more than 100 since the beginning of the year."

Doesn't really sound like the kind of place I'll consider visiting any time
soon. I like living in one of the safest places in the world, and I have no
interest in going somewhere like this.

