Posted on 01/11/2014 12:49:10 PM PST by Brad from Tennessee
As the smoke settles from the first week of legal marijuana sales in Colorado, experts are warning that sanctioned pot dealers could become targets for the very folks they put out of business.
Taking over a trade once ruled by drug cartels and turning it into an all-cash business could make pot shops prime targets for extortion, black-market competition and robbery. One veteran border narcotics agent told FoxNews.com Colorado's legal pot industry will find it hard to keep the criminals from horning in on a lucrative business they once controlled.
"Mexico is already in Colorado without the risks," the agent, who requested anonymity, said of the state's heavy pre-existing cartel presence. "Legal businesses will likely see a rise in extortion attempts while law enforcement will see a lot of backdoor deals being made."
Cartels, especially the Juarez and Sinaloa, who have a strong presence in Colorado, could not have been happy with the estimated $1 million in sales Jan. 1, the first day of legalized retail sales. In 2012 the Mexican Competitiveness Institute issued a report saying that Mexico’s cartels would lose as much as $1.425 billion if Colorado legalized marijuana. The organization also predicted that drug trafficking revenues would fall 20 to 30 percent, and the Sinaloa cartel, which would be the most affected, would lose up to 50 percent. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
37%
“No, but they are competing on price.”
Actually, they are not. The MC is all but extinct here.
The Mafia went out of the bootlegging business after Prohibition ended.
Sounds like the Mafia and they way they did (and do) business. Some things never change
“Legalize home grown weed and all these clowns go out of business.”
That is on DC’s agenda. They are proposing allowing up to 6 plants
I don’t like marijuana and I don’t like the WOD. And I don’t like most gov’t regulation.
I’m with you. I don’t like it either, but still think it is of a problem than alcohol.
Who can tell where any pot was bought and who sold it? How many of these quaint ‘oh, I’m going to make a nice living selling a little bit of pot’ liberals have already been approached by cartels?
Less of a problem than alcohol
The Mafia enjoyed the largest growth in their history during the prohibition of alcohol, which enabled them to strengthen their nationwide network of organized crime like never before.
Once America returned to some sanity, the mafia had already expanded into narcotics. The other vices that fund organized crime are alive and well, too.
And naturally FOX doesn't have any actual evidence that licensed pot dealers are being targeted by cartels. This is nothing but speculation.
if legal pot is $400 an ounce only the fools will be buying it. The illeagal market will half that price and quickly.
I understand it is a cash and carry deal. Banks do not want to touch it with CC due to the Fed.
This should reduce the number of Bank robberies, Crooks go where the cash is.
One of the leading business women that opened a shop and had worked for years within the system had an interview on the radio recently. She made it perfectly clear that the Mexican cartels vanished as they could not compete with legal pot. That the Mexican pot was as expensive but had stems and seeds, and pesticides, and very low purity. No one wanted illegal pot as the relative low cost of legal pot wasn’t worth it. I’ll take her word over FOX any day.
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
Too many entrepreneurs.
Nothing is easy, legal and cheap these days. Try tobacco, booze, whole milk and a thousand other things, including employment.
You speak the truth. Prepare yourself for vilification by those who can't handle the truth.
If the Girl Scouts price marijuana like they price their cookies, it will be $50 a joint.
This is a GREAT comment!
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