Posted on 11/24/2008 6:41:34 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
On Nov. 3, a U.S. District Court in El Paso, Texas, began hearing a case concerning members of a criminal enterprise that calls itself Barrio Azteca (BA). The group members face charges including drug trafficking and distribution, extortion, money laundering and murder. The six defendants include the organization’s three bosses, Benjamin Alvarez, Manuel Cardoza and Carlos Perea; a sergeant in the group, Said Francisco Herrera; a lieutenant, Eugene Mona; and an associate, Arturo Enriquez.
The proceedings represent the first major trial involving BA, which operates in El Paso and West Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The testimony is revealing much about how this El Paso-based prison gang operates, and how it interfaces with Mexican drug cartel allies that supply its drugs.
Mexico’s cartels are in the business of selling drugs like marijuana, cocaine and heroin in the United States. Large amounts of narcotics flow north while large amounts of cash and weapons flow south. Managing these transactions requires that the cartels have a physical presence in the United States, something a cartel alliance with a U.S. gang can provide.
Of course, BA is not the only prison gang operating in the United States with ties to Mexico. Prison gangs can also be called street gangs — they recruit both in prisons and on the street. Within the United States, there are at least nine well-established prison gangs with connections to Mexican drug cartels; Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos, the Mexican Mafia and the Texas Syndicate are just a few such groups. Prison gangs like BA are very territorial and usually cover only a specific region, so one Mexican cartel might work with three to four prison or street gangs in the United States. Like BA, most of the U.S. gangs allied with Mexican cartels largely are composed of Mexican immigrants or....
(Excerpt) Read more at poligazette.com ...
Ping!
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“PRD Deputy and Federal District Legislative Assembly President Víctor Hugo Círigo said organized crime is making $13 billion a year off the drug trade. More than half of that — $8 billion — is derived from the marijuana business, he said.”
Other estimates put the number at over 14 billion a year. These guys are making ridiculous amounts of money selling drugs to Americans. With so much money there for the taking, I don't see how we stop this. Maybe we can put some gang or two out of business, but there will always be people to step in and make all the money to be made.
Legalize the stuff and the profit goes away. We don't see gangs dealing in booze and cigarettes (except smuggling stuff from low-tax states to high-tax states). Prohibition should have taught us about the failure of anti-drug laws.
Sure! It's tattooed right on their backs.
Legalize it.
Regulate it.
Excise tax it. (tobacco, alcohol are examples)
But that makes too much damned sense...
L
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