
Devils, Deals and the DEA: the DEA's longest running drug cartel case - lermontov
https://www.propublica.org/article/devils-deals-and-the-dea
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Fizzadar
Really interesting article - highlights how the DEA were/are twisted into
helping whichever cartel they're not targeting. Another pointless, expensive
and violent fail in the war against drugs.

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highCs
Why is it pointless? (real question) Also, something I'm not sure I get
entirely is why violence is like _the silver bullet_ of cartels? Necessary I
get it, silver bullet? Why? What is calculated violence?

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trowawee
It's pointless because we spend billions of dollars and compromise our own
morality (see: all the killers they let walk) to put away one group, only to
watch another group immediately spring up and be just as bad, if not worse.
And this isn't a new trend, but a multi-decade pattern at this point. And all
of this - the violence, the retribution, the lives ruined, the money thrown
away, multiple countries turned into war zones - is a result of our insane
drug laws. It didn't have to be like this, but we made it this way.

And calculated violence is violence used to make a point. The guy they beat to
death until his body was "like a bag of ice" was killed to stop his
investigations, but also to scare off other investigators.

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highCs
I see what you mean. It's because of the way we handle drugs that this extreme
violence happens. Very interesting.

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highCs
Interesting detail: the cartel guy is wearing a kevlar when arrested. Odds
must be the guy could shot right here.

