Drug corruption is on both sides of the border

corrupt

President Calderon of Mexico.

“There is trafficking in Mexico because there is corruption in Mexico”

“But by the same argument if there is trafficking in the United States it is because there is some corruption in the United States… It is impossible to pass tonnes of cocaine to the United States without the complicity of some American authorities.”

Ninety per cent of the guns used in the current wave of drug violence came from the US, he said, and he pointed out that there were 11,000 gun stores in towns and cities close to the Mexican border.

To move that much drugs, money, and guns both ways across a heavily fortified border requires institutionalized corruption. This isn’t a few rogue border patrol agents and sheriffs, but probably more like entire border towns in the US that have been corrupted; banks, police, gun shops and dealers, the entire political apparatus. But that’s hardly the end point as the money, drugs, and corruption then spreads across the US.

So, lots of folks have a vested interest in keeping drugs illegal.

6 Comments

  1. If the news reports are to be believed (and I don’t know who is to be believed at this point), many of the guns flowing into Mexico are automatic weapons. Some of these come from the Mexican Army itself. Any that come from this side of the border DON’T come from gun stores– ATF keeps a VERY tight leash on civilian automatic weapons, they don’t just disappear. The only source of full-autos would be military (including national guard), police (federal, state, or local), or dealers licensed to sell to one or the other. That would suggest an even higher level of corruption.

    • Exactly. Hypothetically speaking of course, how much would a case of full-auto assault rifles that fell off the turnip truck at a military base or police department be worth in Mexico?

      • How much would a case of full-auto rifles be worth in Mexico? I have no idea. But the venerable AK-47 (as manufactured in full-auto) whose average price on the world market is less than $200 costs around $15K in the U.S. (The common U.S. semi-auto variant has risen from $400 to about $800 thanks to the Obama panic.)

        I doubt you could get $15K in Mexico– they could ship them in from Somalia for much less. But then, a stolen full-auto would be a lot more salable there than here so if you were stealing them that would be the place to sell them even though the profit would be less.

          • They’re heavily regulated by the Fed– every transfer requires a background check and a $200 fee. But they’re a lot of fun to shoot, so yeah, there are some (fairly wealthy) plinkers.

            As to what states allow them, all but DE, HI, IA, IL, NY, RI, SC & WA.

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