
Behind the Scenes of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel - danso
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/behind-the-scenes-of-mexicos-sinaloa-cartel-w475345
======
nl
_Two thousand firearms are illegally exported from the United States to Mexico
per day, fueling the country 's catastrophic conflict as much as the billions
of dollars of demand created by the miserable failure that is drug
prohibition. At dawn in a parking garage, an off-camera seller hands over a
small arsenal of bubble-wrapped assault rifles and boxes of high-caliber
military ammunition new from the factory. Thunder rolls and lightning flashes
as the smuggler's car, laden with weapons, crosses the border with no
questions asked, barely even rolling to a stop. "Drugs go up," Beriain says,
"guns come down."_

Who needs CIA conspiracy theories?

~~~
morsch
Lovely. He claims it's 2000 firearms per day, so more than 700000 per year. A
2013 article puts the number at around 250000[1]. Time for a war on firearms,
maybe?

[1] [http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-
world/world/article24...](http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-
world/world/article24746863.html)

~~~
1_2__3
Is the US even manufacturing non-military firearms at a rate sufficient for
2k/day to slip out through smuggling? That seems extraordinarily unlikely.

~~~
ceejayoz
There are more guns in the US than residents. 2k/day is peanuts.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
...except these are going to a very small group of people? And very likely not
collectors or hunters.

~~~
bfuller
in texas you can go on armslist.com and buy guns from individuals in a face to
face sale. The only paper trail is your contact through armslist. no doubt
they are taking advantage of this as well as having mules to legally buy the
firearms.

------
knowaveragejoe
The solution is clear, de-escalate the war on drugs, reform sentencing
guidelines, invest in treatment instead of interdiction.

Yet the incoming AG and his inner circle are intent on reversing the progress
made to this end over the last decade or so, and instead want to take us back
to the policies of the late 80s and 90s. We know where that got us. The
private prison companies must be salivating over what's to come.

~~~
kafkaesq
_he private prison companies must be salivating over what 's to come._

Indeed, we might say the new administration is like Christmas for them:

[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/opinion/under-mr-trump-
pr...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/opinion/under-mr-trump-private-
prisons-thrive-again.html)

With sugar plums dancing in their heads:

[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/05/trump-sets-
priv...](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/05/trump-sets-private-
prisons-free)

------
te_chris
I read this book a couple of years ago, highly recommend it.
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/El-Narco-Bloody-Mexican-
Cartels/dp/...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/El-Narco-Bloody-Mexican-
Cartels/dp/1408822431)

The narco epidemic in Mexico is morbidly fascinating and thoroughly depressing
as someone who's travelled to Mexico and loves the country and its people.

~~~
test1235
I just finished reading Dreamland which I also thought was good.

[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreamland-True-Americas-Opiate-
Epid...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreamland-True-Americas-Opiate-
Epidemic/dp/1620402521/)

This book has more of a focus on American pharma industry but still has lots
of interesting insider insights.

~~~
daltonlp
Also excellent:

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28187234-wolf-
boys](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28187234-wolf-boys)

------
hourislate
It's interesting why Canada has not suffered the same fate as Mexico? Could it
have something to do with a Government that believes in the rule of law and a
citizenry that respects that?

If I were to lay blame on anyone then I would have to lay it at the feet of
the Mexican Government. There corruption has no boundaries. They bleed the
Nation of not only it's wealth but it's future.

It's easy to play the victim and blame everyone else for your problems. Mexico
has to take a hard look at it's system and find someone who is willing to deal
with the corruption.

~~~
chrischen
Well if you watched Narcos, cocaine had to transit from Columbia through
Mexico. Seemed like every part of the feeding tube of drugs gets wrecked by
it.

~~~
quirkafleeg
Hate to do this, but since it's a common mistake also repeated in the reply,
it's Colombia.

------
mirimir
Forget CIA conspiracy theory. This is just fallout from US problems. Mainly
de-industrialization, health care tied to employment, and the War on Drugs.

~~~
sqeaky
The war on drugs connection is obvious, but how does our shitty health care
system play into this?

~~~
koverstreet
It's one of the causes of opiate addiction. Prescribing opiates is cheap,
actual face time with doctors is expensive.

~~~
mirimir
Yes, that's what I meant. Proscribe opiates => patient stops complaining. Cost
is $20/mo instead of many $thousands.

------
Overtonwindow
I wonder where more emphasis would work: Greater searches of stuff coming into
America, or greater searches going out? stop drugs, or stop guns, pick one.
Which would make the most impact?

~~~
senorjazz
When I crossed the border from US to Mexico in a UK registered red camper van,
there was no border from US to Mexico. I was meant to hand in some documents
to show the van and family had left the US but we managed to get into Mexico
without seeing any US customs / border. Speaking to the Mexican side they said
the US border controls was about 2 miles back up the road so we didn't bother
and just carried on South.

So probably a bit of room for some searches on the US side

------
Exuma
Here's episode 1:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9krnFldmkE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9krnFldmkE)

~~~
dmix
(Spanish with no subtitles)

------
tomc1985
It's a shame the video linked to is blocked.

~~~
Exuma
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9krnFldmkE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9krnFldmkE)

~~~
tomc1985
Thanks!

------
djsumdog
This article fails to talk about the cause of the situation in Mexico, and
that is American involvement:

[http://fightthefuture.org/article/america-and-the-mexican-
dr...](http://fightthefuture.org/article/america-and-the-mexican-drug-trade/)

In the article they mention that the three most dangerous countries for
reporters are Mexico, Syria and Iraq. Well no shit, those are the three
nations the CIA/United States are systematically destroying for corporate
greed, or do you really believe Assad on the eve of peace negotiations when
everything is going his way would bomb his own people. That's insanity.

~~~
frozenport
>>or do you really believe Assad on the eve of peace negotiations when
everything is going his way would bomb his own people

Its going his way _because_ he bombed his own people. Although for a full
disclosure they are different ethnicity. Saddam Hussein did similar things.

~~~
devoply
Well it's a question of framing. If America is in fact world's police man who
protect the rights and freedom of all citizens of the world then America
routinely bombs its own Arab citizens and destroys millions of lives to
protect their rights.

~~~
sqeaky
Even from that perspective the US still doesn't use chemical weapons on
people.

The only use of weapons of mass destruction by the US was in WWII, and nukes
weren't consider off limits yet. Since then we helped to get them banned in as
many places as possible, and in general find them too indiscriminate.

Just like the world community agreed chemicals were a bad idea after WWI.
Countries using the WMDs use them once in one war and found them so
reprehensible that everyone gets together afterward and an agrees that these
are too much even in war against hated enemies.

Anyone using any WMD after the hard lessons about them have already been
learned is so evil that it is trivially easy to get many armed nations, even
those with only the loosest ties, to attack them.

Consider:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weapons_of_mass_destru...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weapons_of_mass_destruction_treaties)

~~~
devoply
Again framing:

[http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/14/the-united-states-
used-d...](http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/14/the-united-states-used-
depleted-uranium-in-syria/)

~~~
frozenport
I'm calling bullshit on your train of thought. Frame ain't reality, buddy. The
magnitude of Assads participation in first inspiring chaos in Iraq, then
purging the Syrian people, and an increasingly brutal hold to power, far out
weight any minor US involvement.

~~~
devoply
We were talking about using WMDs. When I in fact showed that WMDs were used in
the same country by perhaps your country you changed the target to Assad. Well
okay, again framing:

> The magnitude of Assads participation in first inspiring chaos in Iraq,

The Iraq war would qualify as the BIGGEST factor in inspiring chaos in Iraq.

> then purging the Syrian people, and an increasingly brutal hold to power,
> far out weight any minor US involvement.

Assad is trying to hold on to legitimate power where the US is attempt to
purge Syria of his government using terrorists relabeled freedom fighters who
have destabilized the entire country. This began as a small movement during
Arab spring which was mainly due to food price problems which were out of
Assad's control due to the global economy. The situation has totally
deteriorated due to American intervention, as it always does. If America never
supported the so-called freedom fights, significant human life and livelihood
would've been spared.

In the end I don't believe any one in the situation is a good guy. They're all
scumbags playing realpolitik.

~~~
mercurial
> Assad is trying to hold on to legitimate power where the US is attempt to
> purge Syria of his government using terrorists relabeled freedom fighters
> who have destabilized the entire country.

I think you are widely overestimating both the US involvement and its degree
of control over the actors it has links to. I'd be surprised if the main
sponsors of the various anti-Assad factions (Saudi Arabia and Qatar) had
anything like firm control of the factions they are funding.

~~~
djsumdog
I think you don't understand just what America does in the world. Look up
MKUltra, Bay of Pigs, the 73 Coupe in Chile, School of the Americas, Iranian-
Contras, the BP/US/UK overthrow of Iran .. I mean the list is seriously as
long as you want to make it.

The CIA created ISIS. The Congresswoman from Hawaii, who has visited Syria,
even says as much:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qdf2WH4g9k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qdf2WH4g9k)

~~~
mercurial
I am not naive about what the US has done and still does. But reading a "list"
is not nearly enough. Studying the US support to anti-Soviet forces will tell
you much about how funding various insurgent groups goes, if the fact that US-
trained forces have a disturbing tendency to sell their hardware to the
highest bidder and have as yet to demonstrate any degree of success was not
enough of a hint.

