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Subscribe to RSSDrug smugglers are now moving their product across the ocean in the dark of night, coming ashore in Southern California, and showing no signs of backing down. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
MALIBU, CALIF. -- On a starry night in the hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean north of Los Angeles, a two-man California National Guard special forces surveillance team sets up a sophisticated night scope. Their mission is to search the horizon and the waters below for an increasing number of Mexican drug traffickers offloading multi-ton loads of marijuana--and sometimes illegal immigrants--on remote U.S. beaches.
"These service members are the eyes and ears of federal law enforcement here," said Lt. Kara Siepmann, of the Guard's National Drug program. When asked about what specifically they are looking for, one of the surveillance team members said, "We're looking for blacked out vessels and any suspicious activity we can find, any unusual boats coming through the area."
Used to smuggle drugs from Mexico, this panga boat was captured near Huntington Beach, Calif., in August 2011. The faces of the three men being arrested have been obscured at the request of the HSI.
The soldiers work quietly and in the dark, aware that the Mexican traffickers have their own spotters here watching out for U.S. law enforcement personnel. "They don't want to land where the National Guard or the Border Patrol are looking for them," said Siepmann.
Turning fishing boats into drug boats
In the last few years, law enforcement officials said they have seen a considerable spike in smugglers loading drugs or immigrants onto boats in Mexico's northern Baja Peninsula, then motoring north to offload their illegal cargo along a 300-mile-long stretch of California beaches, sometimes within sight of the many luxury homes on the coastline.
Courtesy of HSI/ICE
Used to smuggle drugs from Mexico, this panga boat was found in California's Ventura County in January 2012.
Related: Debate rages over Mexico 'spillover violence' in U.S.
Federal agents said this is the latest smuggling technique employed by Mexico's notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, headed by that country's most-wanted criminal, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. The boats are small, open-hulled commercial fishing boats called pangas, which are commonly found in the inshore waters of Mexico and Central America.
With their low profiles, the pangas are hard to spot in open water, but they can carry a large payload. Sometimes these 30- to 40-foot boats will have as many as four outboard engines, allowing them to outrun most vessels used by the authorities.
"The trend is pretty much going straight up," said Lt. Stewart Sibert, the captain of the US Coast Guard Cutter Halibut, which patrols in search of Mexican smugglers near the California coast.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Troy Matthews describes sea smuggling techniques and the dangers associated with it.
"The past few months have been very busy for us," he said. "We caught more drugs in these past two months than in the past two years."
According to arrest statistics reported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, there were 183 known "events" in fiscal year 2011 along the California coast involving the maritime smuggling of drugs or immigrants, up considerably from the previous three years. During the first seven months of this fiscal year, there have already been 113 such events as the numbers climb even faster than last year.
California National Guard members work on secret nighttime surveillance operations to locate smugglers on the seas, attempting to reach the California coast. They use night vision goggles and infrared technology that allows them to see for miles out to sea.
"We're seeing four and five tons of drugs come in per run and we're seeing dozens of runs. It's almost one or two per week at this point," said Sibert.
A dangerous trade heading north
Law enforcement officials have argued the rise in maritime smuggling is a direct result of their crackdown on smuggling operations along the U.S. land border with Mexico. As they first interdicted smuggling boats headed for beaches in southernmost California, near San Diego, they began to see the traffickers moving farther north to drop off their loads, which are then distributed across the country.
Related: Patrolling 'smugglers' alley' by air along the Rio Grande
U.S. Coast Guard LT. Stewart Sibert/Captain of the U.S.S. Halibut describes smuggling operations and how they bring drugs and migrants in to the country illegally.
"As we stop them in one area, they’re trying to go around us. We're sort of leapfrogging up the coastline," said Sibert. Recently, an abandoned panga and a hidden marijuana stash were found near San Simeon, Calif., more than 300 miles from the Mexican border.
"They go far out to sea to try to evade interdiction efforts along the border," said Claude Arnold, the special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations. "They typically go 100 miles out or farther due west, and then they come north," to reach the U.S. coastline.
While the panga boats are considered relatively stable when used for fishing in calm inshore waters, officials said, they can be quite dangerous in rougher waters offshore, especially if they are overloaded with drugs or illegal immigrants. The boats rarely have adequate safety equipment and authorities speculate that many may have been lost at sea, along with their passengers.
Courtesy of HSI/ICE
Used to smuggle drugs from Mexico, this panga boat was found on California's Leo Carrillo Beach in August 2011.
"It's a direct indication of these criminal smuggling organizations' complete disregard for human life. They are driven by profit and nothing else," said Troy Matthews, of the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego. "You'll have somebody driving the ship who is not necessarily highly-trained. You'll have poorly maintained vehicles that will break down and subsequently they are loitering out at sea for days."
A border security threat
As they find more boats on the beaches and make more arrests, U.S. authorities are learning more about how the smuggling operation work, and the degree to which they are coordinated with land-based trafficking operations.
"We've seen some pangas that run directly up onto the beach and upload their cargo," said Sibert. "And then we've seen some that will come in and transfer their load to recreational boats that look less suspicious and try to run them directly into the marinas and yacht clubs."
Many times the panga boat operators will land at night on remote beaches near roads or a highway where they met by other members of the smuggling group. "There's usually an offloading team that will have a rental boxcar, U-Haul, or something of that nature to take the payload and transport it to a stash house where an organization begins the distribution process," said Arnold.
A particular concern voiced by many U.S. authorities is the potential national security threat these boats and smugglers represent. "They're just as willing to smuggle perhaps a weapon of mass destruction as they are a load of narcotics," warned Arnold. "And they're just as willing to smuggle a terrorist as people coming here to work."
In the middle of a presidential election year, there's a big debate between Democrats and Republicans, and law enforcement and ranchers, over how much violence from the Mexican drug war has spilled over into the United States, making it hard to get straight answers. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
To coordinate their interdiction efforts, federal, state and local law enforcement officials have formed a coastal-area task force. "As they adapt, we will adapt, and they'll continually try to find new ways to get contraband and people into the country, and we're going to be right there nipping at their heels," said Arnold.
Authorities conceded, however, that so far they are seeing no let-up in the Mexican maritime smuggling trade, and, in fact, are actually seeing bigger drug loads on boats now than in recent years.
"It's a huge challenge," said Matthews, from the U.S. Border Patrol. "It's an immense geographical area that we have to cover. There is not only single agency that can cover it by itself."
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This has been going on for over 50 years, and not in a small way. Trying to portray this as a "growing trend" seems like a way to invent news. This has been going on for decades! You get in a boat in Mexico, and you land on the California Coast. Not exactly rocket science....
All of this over a relatively harmless plant. What a waste of tax dollars and resources.
You're right. This is not new.... and certainly not unexpected. There is an obvious solution, namely legalization, but it's unthinkable in this political climate. Drug prohibition is a subsidy for crime. Legalization would be free. No, wait, it would actually save money and end a cruel war.
Here come the druggies, out in force again...so predictable. Ya...totally harmless..
http://www.inquisitr.com/246788/stoned-mom-leaves-baby-on-roof-of-car-drives-off/
Did the illegality of drugs stop this woman? When someone drives drunk do you want to take away everyone else's license? What's your point?
Let's go with Mr. Obama's suggestion: "Let's build a moat and put alligators in it." (revised)
Wait a minute....Mrs. Napolitano and her surrogate Aguilaro as saying "Our borders have never been more secure." and "Our borders are more secure than they have been in the last 20 years."
Meanwhile....back to the investigation of the burned our SUV with 5 bodies inside which was 70 MILES North of the Mexican border.
Kind of shows you that the "we need a border fence" crowd didn't think that all the way through. The US government could not stop "rum runners" from 1919 to 1933 and they won't stop this. Taking away the huge profit by legalizing pot would stop it.
Sounds just like yer daily Fox Noise fearmongering...
Gov. Brown has the welcome wagon crew meet them at shore gives each a gift basket which includes a SS card, CAL driver licence and proof of insurance and the keys to a Chevy. no wounder GM sales are up and we are $16 billion in the hole.
Actually I don't smoke marijuana. I just dislike asswipes who want to stick their noses in other people's private lives.
People die every day from because of drunk drivers, yet I don't see the anti-marijuana morons calling for alcohol to be made illegal.
Don't bother eric, you're using too much common sense for him.
Gee, do you think it is time to LEGALIZE drugs and get great tax bases from them....NNNooooo!!!!! Says
BigPharma.......Got news for you when the $H!T hits the fan in ca, here now, your gonna wish these caClownPoliticos legalized Pot, At Least, so what are they doin'??? cops are hgwy predators with PHONY ILLEGAL TICKETS, The ca Cops mind You!!!!! breaking the law to hand out false citations...Gotta"!!!! Ah' git' $100,000p/year An' awl' th' donuts an' coffee Awh' kin' Wolf Down!!!EEZZZZZZ Money, aint' givin' it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!He!! give ma momma a ticket fer' aenythin'.
Good Grief
But hey, let's ban one mind altering substance and leave the others availiable.
Every minute, one person is injured from an alcohol-related crash.
(Blincoe, et al, 2002; Miller et al, 1998) Full cites: Blincoe, Lawrence, et al. ?The Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes 2000.? Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2002. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/economic/EconImpact2000/ and Miller, Ted, Diane Lestina, and Rebecca Spicer. ?Highway Crash Costs in the United States by Driver Age, Blood Alcohol Level, Victim Age, and Restraint Use,? Accident Analysis and Prevention, 30, no. 2 (1998): 137-150.
It isn't solely about the drugs coming over, it's also about illegal immigrants. You can't legalize everything to make an issue disappear, what about gangs/violence. Marijuana is a small piece of the drug business and the least harmful but legalizing it won't solve issues with other drugs getting smuggled in or weapons. There is an issue, and no it didn't just occur, but it is likely getting increasingly worse.
They call this news?
Torpedo them boats, that way they don't out run the law and the law don't get the dope to sell and fill their own pockets. Crooked Ba*(&ards.
I love the drug heads' standard bulls**t about "it doesn't hurt anybody else"....yeah like the guy on bath salts who ate another guy's face last week. Hell, that didn't hurt him, just his face. If the weak minded junkheads could manage to ingest their crap without bothering the rest of us, I'd say go ahead and legalize it all. Unfortuneately, here in Realville it doesn't happen that way.
By the way Deville, I always appreciate reading such an eloquent, thoughtful, and above all, intelligent comment.
I would say that since Deville insinuates that alcohol is damaging then we should go ahead and legalize everything else?? HA HA...dumb logic
Easy. We'll just build a twenty-foot tall fence all along the Pacific and Gulf coasts with gun turrets every quarter mile. Problem solved!
Hello folks, the truth is finally starting to come out. Enclosed is an interesting article for those who want to know the truth. The sheeple can bypass and continue their slumber.
Four Horsemen, CIA & the Colombian Coca Express
By Dean Henderson
theintelhub.com
May 27, 2012
(Excerpted from Big Oil & Their Bankers…Chapter 16: The Mexican Fast Track)
The two were busy shipping cocaine through CIA agent John Hull’s Costa Rican ranch. They fled Colombia after ordering the assassination of Colombian Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla and found refuge in CIA employee Noriega’s Panama, where that same year Nicaraguan contra godfather and Mossadegh coup master Vernon Walters was meeting secretly with Colombian President Julio Turbay to launch a top-secret US military base on the Colombian island of San Andres.
The Caribbean island quickly became a major smuggling route for Colombian cartel cocaine.
With the passage of NAFTA, Mexico became the main transshipment point for Salinas-greased cocaine entering the US from Colombia. The first stage of the new Free Trade Agreement of the America’s is being carried out under the name Plan Colombia.
The Plan includes a large energy component, assisting the Four Horsemen (Exxon Mobil, Chevron Texaco, BP Amoco & Royal Dutch/Shell) in the development of their extensive oil and petrochemical ventures in Colombia, where they hold a monopoly over the nation’s energy resources. In the 1980’s Shell bought the Colombian operations of Occidental Petroleum and Tenneco. Exxon Mobil owns large coal mines in the country, while BP Amoco recently discovered huge oilfields in Columbia. [1]
Plan Colombia also includes a military component, which flies under the banner of drug eradication, but which is actually a counterinsurgency campaign aimed at two powerful leftist guerrilla armies who have been fighting the Colombian narco-oligarchy for over 40 years.
The Columbian left began to go underground after the 1948 assassination of popular leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan at the Inter-American Conference in Bogota. They formed two guerrilla armies- FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and ELN (National Liberation Army).
Both have historically focused their attacks on Four Horsemen installations. Occidental pipelines were ruptured, Chevron Texaco executives kidnapped and BP Amoco installations destroyed. FARC – under the leadership of Manuel Marulanda – controls a huge chunk of territory in southwest Colombia near Popayan.
Eighty-percent of the $1.3 billion Plan Colombia package goes towards the purchase of arms and the hiring of military advisers. More than 400 US advisers now train 12,500 Columbian Special Forces at 34 US military bases in Colombia. High-tech espionage and radar devices have been sent to Colombia, along with 80 Huey and Blackhawk helicopter gunships.
The plan allows for chemical warfare against Colombian peasant farmers via widespread aerial spraying of glycerin-phosphate on coca crops. The spraying kills the livestock of poor peasant farmers, many of whom now suffer from previously unknown illnesses. [2]
While US propaganda paints the guerrillas as narcotraffickers, the reality is that Colombia’s oligarchy and military are firmly in the driver’s seat of the country’s cocaine business. US multinationals, international banks and the CIA are the facilitators.
Most Colombian presidents have been paid off by the drug cartels. Those who have not been bought don’t stay in office for long. That was the fate of President Verhilio Barco, who in the early 1990’s, along with his Peruvian and Bolivian counterparts, had the audacity to demand that President Bush stop Exxon, Chevron and RD/Shell from sending acetone and ethyl-ether to South America, since these chemicals are required in the production of cocaine.
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) urged Bush to do the same. Bush refused, the Barco Presidency was short-lived and a more pliable Colombian leader emerged.
In 1994 new President Ernesto Samper accepted $6 million from the Cali Cartel to run his campaign. His campaign manager was Colonel Fernando Botero-Zea, who later became Samper’s Defense Secretary.
Botero-Zea was the CIA’s main contact to the Colombian Armed Forces. He received Cali Cartel donations and deposited them into a Barclay’s Bank account in Bogota. Botero-Zea also had an account with Barclay’s New York, which the US DEA ordered investigated. But the colonel has all the right connections. His attorney was Stuart Abrams, who helped derail any meaningful investigation of Iran/Contra. [3]
Samper’s good friend Jaime Michelson Uribe founded the Grancolumbia business consortium, a major conduit for cocaine traffic. In 1997 the US de-certified Columbia as a reliable partner in the drug war, while President Clinton threatened to ban Samper from the US. Samper answered by saying he would no longer cooperate with the US on the drug issue. He also threatened to release a list of US multinationals who were involved in the Columbian cocaine business. [4] Clinton quickly backed down. Samper never mentioned the list again.
The US mega-banks must have been relieved. When Chase Manhattan executive John Marcilla brought proof of drug money laundering by Chase Colombian subsidiary Banco de Comercio to his New York bosses he was fired. David Edwards got the same response when he brought up the topic with his Citibank higher-ups.
The Four Horsemen showed gratitude for Samper’s silence by pumping record investment into Colombia and urged Clinton not to impose sanctions on the country. Chevron Texaco, BP Amoco, the Kuwaiti-owned Occidental, Bechtel and Lawrence Eagleburger’s Halliburton baby Dresser Industries led the charge in the Columbian resource grab. [5]
In 1998, while Clinton was busy commending Samper’s successor Andres Pastrana for his drug war efforts, the head of Colombia’s Air Force was forced to resign after an Air Force jet he was flying on was found carrying 600 kilos of cocaine when it landed at Ft. Lauderdale in Governor Jeb Bush’s state of Florida. The general received no prison term or fine from either the Colombian or US government. [6]
US drug war allies in neighboring pre-Chavez Venezuela were equally corruptible. In 1996 a Miami grand jury indicted the former head of a CIA-sponsored anti-drug unit in that country for smuggling twenty-two tons of cocaine into the US.
General Ramon Guillen led a Venezuela National Guard unit in Caracas which the CIA funded. US law enforcement officials said the CIA approved Guillen’s shipments. The CIA Chief of Station in Venezuela was forced to resign when Guillen got caught. DEA Station Chief in Caracas Annabelle Grimm told 60 Minutes that she turned down a CIA request to make uncontrolled cocaine deliveries to Miami, under the guise of a sting operation against Medellin Cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar. When Grimm refused, the CIA shipped the coke anyway. [7]
Colombia’s military is knee-deep in the cocaine business, as are the country’s paramilitaries, which wealthy Colombian oligarchs and drug kingpins train to attack the Colombian left. The right-wing paramilitaries carry out their state-sanctioned terrorism under the banner of the United Self-Defense of Columbia.
They are, in fact, death squads whose record of slaughtering innocent civilians, union members and human rights workers is among the world’s worst. The biggest Columbian drug lords were Pablo Escobar, Jorge and Fabio Ochoa, Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, Fidel Castano, Carlos Lehder and Victor Carranza, who collectively ran the Medellin and Cali Cartels – the main sponsors of Colombia’s paramilitaries.
The goons are trained by British and Israeli mercenaries and often torture peasants on cartel-owned haciendas. [8] Carlos Lehder is a self-proclaimed Nazi who formed the notorious MAS (Death to Kidnappers) – the most brutal of the death squads. Lehder was a business associate of Robert Vesco.
Fidel Castano is principal paramilitary funder in Cordoba. Castano’s hacienda served as training camp for terrorists who carried out the cleansing of the Uraba Region for Pablo Escobar and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, a campaign of terror against the homeless and shanty dwellers. A similar campaign was carried out in Cali by paramilitary Cali Linda (Beautiful Cali).
The cocaine paramilitaries work directly with Colombian police and military units. Paramilitaries linked to the drug oligarchs carried out massacres in both Trujillo and Cali. In both incidents local police and military units, as well as the elite Army Palace Battalion of Buga, were involved in the atrocities.
In Putamayo the Anti-Narcotics Police control and protect the paramilitaries, who have carried out numerous massacres. In 1995 the Columbian government and human rights groups issued a joint report citing Army Colonel Antonio Uruena as leader of a paramilitary that killed more than 100 civilians in drug-related incidents from 1988-1991. [9]
Confessions by former Army Major Oscar Echandia – Military Mayor of Puerto Boyaca in the early 1980’s – shed light on the cozy relationship between the cocaine cartels, the Columbian military and Big Oil. Echandia described how paramilitaries were ordered to kill supporters of the centrist Liberal Party. He said the alliance between paramilitaries and drug traffickers was formed in 1983-1984, citing the onset of close relations between Rodriguez Gacha and Colonel Plazas Vega – Commander of the School of the Cavalry of the Army.
This was the same time Vernon Walters was setting up the San Andres deal. Echandia said British and Israeli mercenaries began showing up in Puerto Boyaca in 1989 accompanied by Columbian F-2 intelligence agents and Army personnel. He said financial support for training and maintenance of the paramilitaries came from wealthy ranchers and the Four Horsemen. [10]
Under Plan Colombia the US arms spigot will open wide in supplying the crooked Columbian military. In January 2002, President Andres Pastrana, perhaps feeling that implementation of Plan Columbia would give his troops a long-awaited military advantage over FARQ and ELN rebels – who have embarrassed the Columbian military on numerous occasions – announced a 48-hour deadline for FARQ to evacuate its southwest Columbia stronghold.
FARQ simply repositioned itself, moving more of its operations into Colombia’s major cities. FARQ kidnapped a right-wing Colombian Congressmen and attempted to assassinate Presidential candidate Uribe, who promised to wipe out the rebels if elected.
On August 7, 2002, as the tough-talking Uribe was sworn in at a high-security Bogota ceremony, mortar attacks killed 14 people. With the rebels going on offense and Plan Colombia kicking into high gear, all-out war in Colombia seems inevitable. Adding fuel to the fire, in 2007 the Colombian media uncovered evidence linking the Uribe government to the paramilitaries in a scandal known as Paragate.
@justoneguy, whats really funny is that you seem to think that you were using logic in the first place. until you are able to think like a reasonable adult, keep your mouth shut kid.
no alan...i will not 'shut up'...you are foolish for even asking.
BTW 'trustverify' write a book...this isn't the forum for 5 page diatrabs.
PHOENIX, June 2 (Reuters) - A marijuana-smoking woman was arrested on Saturday in Phoenix after she accidentally drove away with her five-week-old son in a child safety seat on the roof of her vehicle, police said.
The baby fell off the car in the middle of an intersection and was found unharmed and strapped into the seat, said Phoenix police spokesman James Holmes.
The mother Catalina Clouser, 19, was booked into jail on child abuse and aggravated assault charges, he said. The infant was taken to a local hospital as a precaution and is in the custody of state Child Protective Services.
"It appears the suspect put the baby on the roof of the car and drove off, forgetting he was still on the roof," Holmes said in a written statement.
Police said Clouser and her boyfriend had been smoking marijuana in a park and left with the toddler to buy beer late on Friday night. Officers stopped the car and the boyfriend was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence while driving with the baby in the 2000 Ford Focus.
Police learned that Clouser was so upset about the arrest that she drove to a friend's home and "admittedly smoked one or two additional bowls of marijuana," Holmes said.
She left at about midnight with the baby asleep in the car seat, placing the child on top of the vehicle, he said. Clouser apparently did not realize that the baby was missing until she arrived home.
Holmes said witnesses who were friends of the mother advised officers that the child belonged to Clouser. The mother then arrived at the scene and "made admissions to what had occurred."
I guess smoking pot does affect your thinking, duh!
Trust, the article you pasted cites events from 1986 to present and describes certain U.S. corporate and government interactions with Columbia on the drug issue and alludes to Columbia being almost a narco-state.
I would like to know . . . What would you have the U.S. do about the situation in Columbia?? The facts are that:
1. Columbia can easily find anyone to sell them acetone and ethyl-ether, Brazil or anyone would be happy to sell them these extremely common commodity chemicals.
2. The Columbian people I know are strong Democracy-loving people who certainly don't like the level of crime and influence of these drug cartels in their society, however, these cartels have proved extremely difficult to rout out.
3. This problem cannot be solved by an external power like the U.S.; it needs to be solved by the Organization of American States (OAS) or LAFTA and their political leaders need to make this a priority and come out clearly with their positions on this as well as an action plan. Perhaps then countries such as the U.S. could provide finances supporting their intracontinental "war on drugs" through such an overarching organization, although all the pitfalls that the article cites since the 1980s would likely remain.
4. What would you have us "Sheepie" do?? Obama cannot even keep his Secret Service agents away from Columbian prostitutes.
Trust, if I might gently suggest . . it is easy to chronicle the problem. What do you propose for a solution??
(People I know who have lived or work in Columbia know how difficult this problem is to reverse. Has anyone come up with a proposed solution? Pointing fingers at the CIA for old interactions is insufficient)
spider - willful ignorance or just plain stupidity?
It nice to see we have complete control over this, our Government wants our States to handle this debacle they've created.We shouldnt have to worry about real terrorist attacks on our country..
Cant we all just get along?
Truth and logic,
A very good post of common sense truths. The real problem is that money and greed rules the world. The evidence can be seen in Mexico where the Cartels gained power through the massive amounts of money that is made and corrupt politicians who gain from the industry both north and south of the border American law enforcement, corporations and businessmen also reap profits.
I see only two possible ways to really solve the problem and both involve destroying the market for drugs here in America. Neither would be very popular with the socialist or the persons who use them or who profit from them. Remove the market and the sellers will go elsewhere. At one time the seas were very hazardous for merchants and travelers in the waters south of North America because of pirates. Eventually they were given a choice, either quit of die. The problem was solved to large part as an organization. However, in order to do something like that we would need for a world wide law organization to step in and use the joint military powers to attack the sources. If only such an organization existed, then so many of the worlds ills could be met and addressed such as the slavery/sex trade.
Hello Truth and logic, the article illustrates how governments are intertwined into the drug trade and are the smugglers themselves and are fighting the drug cartels for supremacy over the drug trade. There isn't an easy solution to the problem but if governments have laws against certain drugs they themselves should abide by those laws instead of being hypocrites and arresting the people who use the drugs they supply.
If drugs were legalized that would end the problems associated with the illegal drug trade.
While I have NEVER before recommended/suggested violence at any level, I just have to think "Wouldn't it be a shame if a band of mercenaries somehow bombed/torpedoed or otherwise destroyed these boats?" Our government can't (I believe) legally do it, and even though some of the drug carriers would die, I wouldn't lose a minute's sleep over it. Of course, if the boat also held immigrants attempting to come here illegally, they would die, too, but if you're doing something illegal -- you should be prepared to accept the consequences of your illegal behavior. And, you can bet those planning to come later would stay home or find another mode of transportation.
I'm just really fed up with law breakers "ruling" the seas, parts of cities, and some corporations. The good hardworking citizens of this country have to foot the tax bill to pay for costs associated with drugs and human trafficking. We want our tax money to repair our infrastructure and tend to the other problems that we don't enough money to take care of business with, not lining the pockets of law breakers.
I have NO tolerance for any level of activity when it comes to illegal drugs. If they are destroyed, I won't shed a tear. Their business has helped destroy many families and some of the fabric of our society. Anyone who believes marijuana and/or other illegal drugs should be legalized: Get off your arse, get signatures for a petition and at least try to make it happen, instead of sitting at your computer throwing out your reason for WHY the drugs should be legal. We have a system in place to remedy the problem you perceive to have. At least try to fix it, or shut the H*LL up!
Trust . . you, me, we (i.e. many of us reading) all have kids. Regardless of our own feelings or experiences with "drugs" I can never tell a young person that drugs will do anything to enhance their lives (or even help them escape from the problems they have). I see college kids who smoke pot; they inevitably either quit the drugs or drop out of college; I view it through that lens now that I have children. I tell my kids that I know of no-one whose life is substantially better because of drugs.
Our national policy should be based on real evidence of whether these "drugs" are a problem for many people versus the benefit that they bring to the lives of those who take them NOT driven by our inability to control their import.
You're missing the point. Our last prohibition caused the deaths of thousands, and made violent criminals extremely rich. The drug prohibition causes the deaths of tens of thousands, and makes violent criminals extremely rich.
This prohibition would be long over if the same body count that occurs in Columbia, Mexico, and other countries south of our border were our citizens. But obviously, we don't care about foreign lives. IT IS THE MONEY FROM U.S. CUSTOMERS THAT ARE CAUSING THIS.
If you wanted to get rid of a huge percentage of smugglers from Mexico, you would allow the smokers in the US, to grow their own pot.
Or let stoners take sniper rifles out to sea to hunt smugglers and keep the booty.
Right On. Make pot legal, and tax it! And quit spending billions on law enforcement, which, if you haven't guessed, DOESN"T WORK!
I almost got killed by a drunk driver. If he would have been smoking pot instead, it would'nt have happened. You DON"T go asleep at the wheel when smoking pot
But many do both together. Like me. It's not like a stop drinking beer just because I bought an ounce of Northern Lights or Train wreck.
"If he would have been smoking pot instead, it would'nt have happened. You DON"T go asleep at the wheel when smoking pot"
Smoking pot in the car is almost as bad as DUI. Not all drunks fall asleep in their cars. It doesn't matter if the person who smoked the pot is asleep or not, when they smoke it, they can't control their mind. If they can't control their mind, then they can't control their car.
Opium poppies!
Who needs smugglers from Mexico?; let the smokers in the US grow their own.
- Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera
When cartel leaders are thanking you for not doing something, you know you've seriously F'ed up.
Time to play Battleship with the little drug runners - B9, C4, A1, aw you sunk my panga boat!
Prohibition proved that prohibition doesn't work. The only ones to benefit are those employed on either side of the "war on ............".
or joe kennedy but i guess if you supply all the judges and rich folks in this country no crime they didn't even hit him with tax evasion like cappone but he got rich SUPPER rich and had the children of a smuggler become senators (murderin) and even presidents (dope fiene) but every one loved kennedy even though he was a dope fiene after he became pres. pill popper couse thats when he got fat but they'll tell you oh he was always sickly @!$%# he was on coke and slim . BUT the real question here is if i find one of those boats does that meen it's abandonded and i can apply for a title for it ??
Enough! How is it we as a country have grown stupider? We ended alcohol prohibition after just over a decade because we realized that its very illegality fostered the growth of the underworld, the curtailment of civil liberities, and the criminalization of otherwise honest citizens. But we continue to waste billions of dollars on law enforcement and create millionaire criminals and a culture of violence with the War on Drugs--such a dismal failure that it makes Viet Nam seem a great victory by comparison. Yet the media only feeds the problem by blindly reporting about "victories" in the War on Drugs when they should be pushing to shut down the DEA and the whole mess.
ericstrong
"stupider" is as "stupider" does...eric - better graduate from high school...oops, you were too stoned?
Legalize it already! Alcohol and some prescription drugs have much worse effects on people.
GermanGem - I think that this is the only time I have agreed with one of your posts.
its nice to hear that Kim:) One more perk of legalization:)
Gem, Your every where today. I think this is one issue that crosses party lines. Nobody in DC has the balls to tackle this. Decriminalize but don't legalize. I don't want marlboro Menthal skunk weed.
yes leroy, it realy is a wonder drug to bring people together on THIS forum lol
crappy weather here in PA/NJ today, ergo surf the net lol
It would be hard to explain, but you just tripped me out. Crappy in Reno today too. Windstorm. Still trippin on ergo.
sorry leroy:( didn't mean to make ya trip. I'm coming to Reno in a month or so.... maybe you can explain then:)
Lookin forward to it.
I agree there are much worse "legal" drugs available than marijuana. We already know proabition doesn't work.
Intercept boats, figure out smuggler's plan, kill smugglers, add cyanide to cocaine, deliver cocaine to planned point.
"figure out smuggler's plan, kill smugglers, add cyanide to cocaine, deliver cocaine to planned point"
Did you read what you just typed before you clicked "post"??
Kill em all,eh? How's the weather in China today, Matt?
you do know that your beloved W. has a possesion of cocain on his record right . in tx. some how his lawer got them to make it a missdor meanor. and edison was a coke freak and where would we be without him ? and froude sigmund the bigest coke addvocate at that time. in the medical psysyatric fields before they made it illegal at all .
Don't forget Coke! And Yes, I do mean the soda, it used to be made with Cocaine and was sold to the general public.
Matt, why kill (a wee bit harsh and cruel don't ya' think?) the addicts instead of rehabilitating them and turning them into productive members of society? They're not the ones distributing the stuff.
Shoot first, ask questions later.
Well there's another voter Rummy....kinda hard to pick them out isn't it folks!
I agree with the other comments in that this is in no way, 'new'. This has been going on for decades as others have noted. The only way to end this futile war on drugs, and greatly reduce violent crime, and also add to the state and federal revenue pot, is to legalize marijuana. It has proven to be less harmful than alcoholic beverages and it also has numerous industrial uses such as making paper products for one example. Hemp is extremely pulpy and fibrous and grows with very little assistance in the form of fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals normally used in farming these days. Prohibition has proven to be a very costly and ineffective way of dealing with this "problem". One of these days politicians in this country are going to finally realize that keeping marijuana illegal and continuously feeding the 'Law and Order' system by arresting, trial by jury, and incarceration of the multitudes of "criminals" growing, smoking, selling marijuana is not the way to deal with this situation. Legalize marijuana so that this plant can be grown and used in similar ways that our countries founding fathers grew and used it. George Washington, T. Jefferson, B. Franklin, and many other great Americans grew this plant on their plantations right next to tobacco, corn, and other cash crops.
Question: Are they sure the boats are coming to, and not leaving California? What scraps of a market do these seafaring types have, anyway?
During the early 1990's I was deployed to Homestead AFB. The Marines and their OV-10D with its forward-looking infrared (FLIR) were supporting the DEA. On a relatively calm sea, most boats leave a heat trail in the water, that can be detected hours after the boat has passed. It was very easy to follow the trail leading to the suspected boat..
Drug addicts have inherited abnormalities in some parts of the brain which interfere with impulse control, the study led by Karen Ersche of the University of Cambridge, published in the journal Science.
"An individual's predisposition to become addicted to stimulant drugs may be mediated by brain abnormalities linked to impaired self-control." Addicts are known to have poor impulse control.
In an accompanying Perspective article, Nora Volkow and Ruben Baler of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse said that knowing more about brain circuitry could help understand and treat other "impaired control" disorders, like obesity, pathological gambling, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
reference - http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/health/view/1180698/1/.html
IMO - Treat the cause, do not enable the impaired to become worse...
Can you propose an ethical way to 'treat the cause'?
In Thailand they provide FREE medical care to the USERS, and put the dealers and traffickers to DEATH...
Even in China they provide medical treatment to the users...
In Bangkok, a city with 13+Million people, I and my family can walk the streets any time and almost anywhere. The only thing we worry about, is running into the political protesters and a occasional Muslim tourist with grenades...
coffee is clasified a stimulant . here's my campaign promise to all cafeen shall be illegal coffee shall be illegal with simular penalties to coca , as well as all red meat unless you butcher it yourselfs yes you will be able to buy a whole heffer and bottle feeders as well for your baby back ribs (bottle feeder is a calf which must be fed by bottle ) hence baby back ribs they're like $35. if you want one keeps the milk flowing . also you shall wear helmets when in a car ., you shall not have the right to drive your own car until you reach the age or 34 years , you shall lose that right when you tur 55 years of age . you shall not want you shall not need you shall not do any thing other than work eat and sleep you shall not have fun you shall not leve a 100 mile radious of your place of birth you shall not breed with out specific permission from you states genetic qualification burou. YOU SHALL NOT and thats my campaign promise to you the people of the ustado's unidos
an ethical treatment for the "cause" people have many reasons wheather it be a simple as when you tell a child no therefore they must do it . to a deep as an idividual being lacking in some thing wheather it be relationship , to it being a benighn as just to go through the day to day opperaion knowing that there is nothing better and no matter how hard they try it will not get any better than what they have i.e. job or lack thereof or any number of things most people have a drug of choice wheather it be alcohol , sex, addrenaline, coke or oppiate , as well as speed to just name a few , if more people had insurance they could jst go to the dr. and get a scrpt. for thier particular "drug of chice" in a pill form of coarse . except of oarse alchohol and sex . and through being able to be truth full with the dr. and knowing he'll give you the right thing . anti anxiety oppiates cant get going in the morning speed , or what not but usually your dr. will tell you thats not right for you couse they're better than you and they'll give you any thing except what you ask for . zoloft for being depresed makes things funnie that arnt supposed to be ambien seroquell kolonipin zannies . SO I GUESS THE PROBLEM IS the inablility to have ones own name on a bottle as it's a fellonie to have a pill (loose) on the car floor no even yours but thats what makes it a frllonie couse it's not got your name on it . make of this what you will . truth to my understanding
The people need to live and feed their families so they give products to white lazy people.
Vote Obama for open borders!
What amazes me the most, reading these comments, is the sheer openness of flaunting the law! Illegal means AGAINST THE LAW. That has penalties. Instead of legalizing, why not enforce the frigging law here! What is wrong with you anarchists who think you're above the law? Move out of the US immediately, because this is a nation of LAWS.
As for the druggies, the answer is simple. The military has aircraft that can spot a trash bag floating on the ocean from 15 miles away. Have one orbit just offshore, and send the armed UAVs to where the druggie boats are. Expend a few rounds, a missile here and there to take out the druggies, and eventually they'll stop sending the stuff here, when they realize that not only does no one ever come back, but that they're running out of people to drive the boats. Bring a GUN to the knife-fight. If they send four people driving boats, send back 50 body bags. Take off the gloves.
You people who are promoting the idea that the law should be flouted are disgusting. You're un-American, you're traitorous, and you don't belong in any civilised society.
The Evil Tessmacher, I agree. Most of the people on this website are just to young to understand the princible of laws. Little do they realize that there are a lot of people that are against drugs. If 50% of the U.S. population thinks that drugs should be legalized, then drugs would be legalized. Drugs are not legalized though, so what does that say about the majority of the U.S. citizens? It says that most people think that drugs shouldn't be legalized and it will be that way until the majority wishes to legalize drugs.
Tessmacher and Pennsylvanian, you don't seem to fully grasp the fact that killing is a terrible thing. One does not simply kill unarmed civilians who pose no threat to others without any regard to who they are or why they are smuggling... it would be a senselessly disproportionate response to what might or might not actually be a crime, and the whole purpose of law is to keep order, i.e. prevent pointless killing in the first place. Mass murdering fellow citizens who have minor differences in social values is a dark road to walk. Please understand what you are advocating and really ask yourself if you agree with the things that you are writing.
Random Pa.:
Doesn`t matter, drugs are a civil right, why can`t you understand that? (LOL).
We can`t be having the majority oppressing the minority man!! (LOL).
evil tressacher in your writen statement you've just comited a fellonious terroistic threat are you aware of that ? . by your stating in YOUR statement that people should be murdered that is in fackt a fellonious "terostic threat" in this nation of laws you should be aware of that. in tx. law defined as any overt or iminent threat to the sfety of another .. FOR REAL THOUGH IT'S THE LAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 the funnie thing about that is you'll get more time than ifyo acktually caried it out .. thugh youd like to know.
This is our drug war, not Mexico's drug war. This is our violent legal system transferring the violence over into our neighboring countries. The violence is spilling over from the US into Mexico, not the other way around.
End the war on drugs. End the violence.
first country ever to beat us out of murder capital of the world
Janet Reno says our borders are safe. Nothing to see here. Just remember if you question one of Obama's appointees, you're a racist.
Janet Reno ???
R u StOnEd
LOL! As soon as I finished posting, I left the site but asked myself if I had posted Janet Reno and then I couldn't find the post. It finally showed up on my newsvine link, but not until after the allotted 5 minutes had passed. I assume everyone knows who I'm talking about.
I think we would like to see it in PRINT...
Don't simply legalize Pot. Put the question on the ballot, and let the nation tell us what it wants. At 72 years old I could care less to all the opinions on this thread, one is as right as another. I neither drink or smoke, but I do see billions of dollars wasted on a losing cause, and don't we have the right to vote on such a question and spending issue?
Wasting my money on this stupid "war". Legalize it already. I am tired of resources that could be spent elsewhere being flushed down the toilet to prevent Stoner Dave from sitting on the couch watching TV and eating Doritos where he's not doing anybody any harm.
Child in car seat left on top of car. Mother drives away. Child in middle of street. Ring any bells with you? Not exactly sitting around eating Doritos.
Stoners smoke ALL THE TIME. Not just when they hit the couch.
Sounds like a typical right-wing view. How about the thousands of people who DIE every year, and others who are horrifically maimed, by drunk drivers? Should we outlaw alcohol too? There's WAY more cases of alcohol abuse which leads to dire consequences than there are of someone smoking weed. There's so much in fact that it's rarely news, unless a celebrity is caught driving drunk.
pd,your really reaching,baby on roof,that's all u can come up with...
@pdrev,
She was drunk too, but hey don't let things like facts or reality get in the way of you 'agenda'.
Actually that is why alcohol DOES have laws attached to it. You can only drink a minimal amount and pass a breathalizer. No, everyone who drinks and drives doesn't get caught BUT if they do there's a law that will punish them.
So what lilbitzoo? Pot has laws attached to it as well. Totally illegal, right now, has that had any effect? Attach all the use controls you want.
Put this question on the National ballot in November, maybe a few more folks will get out and vote!!!!
If we are going to legalize it, lets do so and get it done. If we are going to continue the "war", then lets do so and use our real assets. This war is winnable if we are willing to inflict violence and mayhem at a level these people understand, but if we are not serious - lets quit dinking around wasting the taxpayers money. We easily have the military technology to defeat a coastline delivery approach. There only needs to be one sea lane chokepoint and we know where that is - on the extreme southern California coast. Ground based, sea based, and air based radar can be coordinated with space based thermal and conventional imaging to pick these target characteristics out like sitting ducks. The release of armed UAVs for a final verification, a warning process, and engagement if necessary -- is quick, cheap, and deadly if need be. This is every bit as much of a war (or perhaps even greater and more important) to the US as are Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. If we are going to do it, then lets take the mittens off and do it !!
At a level they understand? What level is that? The drug cartels in Mexico chainsaw their competition literally in pieces, yet they still persist. You're not going to do violence to any degree and get their attention. They've already mastered it.
yup they slaughter at least one or more (every half hour) and are working on getting their numbers upped a lil bit. Thaa Zeettaas n' thaa "kook-a-mongaas too", along w/thaa FEDERALEEZ 2.
As far as I am concerned they can chainsaw up their internal competition all day. I do feel sorry for the innocent that get caught up in their violence. I rather imagine that our military and DEA have GPS coordinates of every suspected lab, villa, compound, etc. and are easy hits for appropriate weapons. This is a case of if you are in one of these areas, you are guilty by association and therefore a valid target for smart weapons systems. These guys would no more like living on the run than the Taliban and we absolutely should go after them in the same fashion. Authorization from the Mexican government, military, etc. is a non issue -- since the majority of this group is in it at the top. We have yet to take off the mittens because there is way too much money in it for powers that be, who are already entrenched in legal US enterprises -- which is the final destination of almost all "laundered" monies. I get the impression that beyond "smoke and mirrors" our government (both current and 40 years past) does not really want to know or to "act". They seem to just want to continue with the cramming money down a rathole approach. I also think high level US officials in all branches indirectly or directly fear high level retaliation at a personal level. Also the huge demand for weed came from somewhere - it is not intrinsic to our bodily systems. If weed were legalized I agree it might slow down activity for a while, but don't you think there would be a weed gen II in the works, or do you think it would be like alcohol - where enough seems to generally be enough/ Just curious.
celeyonn, drug smugglers have long considered the significant likelihood that they will be killed or imprisoned forever as.... an acceptable business risk. Drug prohibition is the source of their profits. Dealers do NOT want drugs to be legal. You and the dealers agree on this important point.
If you think legalizing marijuana is going to stop these Mexican cartels from moving other illegal products and/or smuggling illegals into the US, you have been using too much of their product. I can hear Guzman now,"Gee, the US legalized marijuana. I guess I'll just have to close down my cartel and find a job at McDonald's." Unbelievable.
Do you understand supply and demand? There's a huge demand for weed, hence the large number of cartels trying to supply it. Not so much for hard drugs like coke and heroin. They can go ahead and try to smuggle that stuff all they want, but there's not enough of a market to support the large number of cartels, and so they'll eventually diminish in size until the supply is equal or close to demand. It's not rocket science.
Stop blowing this out of proportion. I highly suspect you're employed by the DEA, hence your defensive position. You don't want to lose your job. YOU might be the one looking for a job flipping burgers at Mickey D's if the American public gets their way.
You're a clown with zero understanding of economics. And for what it's worth, you fool, the mother that left her baby on the roof of her car was also drunk. You have no idea what you're talking about so you might want to post elsewhere, okay?
If you can distribute legally, then why would you go to the trouble to smuggle?
PD_Rev
Legal or not you're possibly right, it won't stop any one from becoming a criminal. But it will take the profit out of it, it will reduce the demand. Look at what prohibition gave us organized banking (Loan sharks) organized prostitution, and of course organized drug distribution. Just like fire, take on of the necessary inems needed for combustion, and you either stop it, or drastically reduce the financial (Fuel) purpose of committing the crime.
Put it on the National Ballot in Nov. and let the voters decide.
what did you learn in school about free market econimies ? what exacktly is free market is it where any produckt that has a demand and a wupply of can be sold ? in your state how many people does cps sell everyyear did you know thats illegal even though they call it cost to steal ones child and sell to another with a false birth cert. that does not even have the real parents name on it . or a car thats retitled as abandond , with out due process through a court unless you call just didn't buy it back in time 30 days average when they cant repo your house or your storage shed or your car for at least 90 days . so the wrecker company can get and sell your car ? even when you tell the wrecker to tow it to your house and put it on your own crdit card, or to be towed when it's parked in a legal parking place with tags on it and all im sure yo do it all the time did you know it really is illegal . YOU look it up i've already read it . and you dont ever get your car back with every thing that was in it the yard takes what they want . isn't that burgulary of a vehicle ? what is it called when some one takes something from someone else and refuses to give it back ? WITHOUT PAYMENT for your own @!$%#
Why is Obama letting Holder still raid the pot clubs. A promise is a promise.
Sensationalism at it's finest,The Terrorists are coming,another way to Justify Law Enforcement.
BTW,What's up with Obama,Biggest Pot Head when he was a kid,but has his Goon Squad Enforcers,clamping down on Medical Marijuana.
Shoot em, sink em, go find another one.
Hey MAN dave ain't here, he's at his house looking at his pixs of hitler
Gotta find em first. That's the problem.
We use our Military to protect the borders and waterways of countries that hate us. We need to pull our military from those countries and put them on our border and along our coast to protect our country. We are in a war and we are losing the war. It is time for use to do the right thing and show the drug cartels we are going to do anything we can to stop them. How about we send our Seal team in to get the drug lords and give them a taste of what we gave Bin Ladden. Enough is enough. It is time for us to protect our country at all costs.
Legalize weed and find something else to hate....like yourself for Pete's sake!
I prefer Chee-tos brand cheese puffs with my Subway Club.
The drug trade is one of the largest industries in America. Too big to fail.