Good day all. Many businesses have been suffering from the lock down, and sadly, thanks to the panic, some will never reopen. However, there is also another group of “Businesses” that are having severe issues. The drug cartels are having supply issues.
I knew that the cartels were having problems shipping “Product,” with both the United States and the Mexican government locking down the border. (Us to keep out illegal aliens, and Mexico to keep out infected Gringos) However, it isn’t just getting their drugs to America, the Cartels are also having problems getting the raw materials they need to make their drugs. Here are the details from Fox News:
The onslaught of the coronavirus has not only sent the global economy tumbling — it has also hit the black market where it hurts, and Mexican cartels are no exception.
And where might that be? Why right smack dab in the wallet.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has sent the price of heroin, methamphetamines and fentanyl soaring, as the likes of the Sinaloa cartel – and its main rival, the Jalisco “New Generation” – struggle to obtain the necessary chemicals to make the synthetic drugs, which typically come from China and are now in minimal supply.
“The cartels have suffered from COVID-19 due to the inability to get the regular shipments of synthetic opioids and precursor chemicals for the massive production of meth from China,” Derek Maltz, a former special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Operations Division in New York, told Fox News.
The cartels have continued their production at a slower rate, but the demand seems to be increasing during these times of uncertainty in America. The shutdown of cities in China and travel in and out of China have also negatively impacted the flow of chemicals and drugs to Mexico.”
As to why the cartels are having supply issues, the reason is simple. China. Since the China Virus kicked off, China, the main supplier of materials to the cartels, have shut down their production and started making drugs to fight the Kung Flu.
China, where the virus originated late last year, has, for the most part, halted production on the chemicals required for the making of the drugs as it battles the virus within its own borders and battles to make medical supplies for other crumbling countries.
“Drug cartels and criminal support organizations in the industry global drug trafficking have been deeply affected by the pandemic of the COVID-19,” Johan Obdola, president of the Canada-based Global Organization for Intelligence (IOSI), concurred. “Especially when it comes to the operations of the Sinaloa Cartel, which control 90 percent of the entrance of synthetic drugs to the United States.”
“The cartels have suffered from COVID-19 due to the inability to get the regular shipments of synthetic opioids and precursor chemicals for the massive production of meth from China,” Derek Maltz, a former special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Operations Division in New York, told Fox News.
“The cartels have continued their production at a slower rate, but the demand seems to be increasing during these times of uncertainty in America. The shutdown of cities in China and travel in and out of China have also negatively impacted the flow of chemicals and drugs to Mexico.”
Now isn’t that just a crying shame? I wonder, will the Cartels do their usual thing and make threats to kill the families of the plant managers that have cut them off? I wonder how well that will work out for them? Of course, the Chinese Government had to get out of the drug smuggling business for a very simple reason. They needed the stuff for themselves due to the Wuhan Flu. They also basically locked down the entire country to try and get a handle on the mess they made of the whole thing.
China, where the virus originated late last year, has, for the most part, halted production on the chemicals required for the making of the drugs as it battles the virus within its own borders and battles to make medical supplies for other crumbling countries.
“Drug cartels and criminal support organizations in the industry global drug trafficking have been deeply affected by the pandemic of the COVID-19,” Johan Obdola, president of the Canada-based Global Organization for Intelligence (IOSI), concurred. “Especially when it comes to the operations of the Sinaloa Cartel, which control 90 percent of the entrance of synthetic drugs to the United States.”
It really sucks to be the Cartels right now. Not only aren’t they able to get the product and raw materials they need, they’re finding it harder to actually get their drugs into the United States. Why? Well, one reason is the increased border security being put in place by President Trump, and the other is that the Mexican government is also locking down their side of the border to keep out Americans who might be crossing in with the China Virus.
“In China, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), around 5,000 illegal drug laboratories have been processing synthetic drugs and chemicals to process them. Most of these drugs have Europe and North America as the main markets,” he continued.
And if you think for one moment that the Chinese government isn’t fully aware of those labs and where they are, I have a couple of gross of brand new N95 masks I want to sell you.
In his, Obdola’s, assessment, the losses over the last two months stand at around 80 percent of their standard revenue. And the pandemic has seemingly hindered the cartels not only when it comes to getting their fix from China.
“The supply shock precisely comes from the supply chain disruption. At this moment, for the cartels, it must be hard to import cocaine from Colombia,” noted Fernando Posadas, a Latin America analyst for Medley Global Advisors. “The demand shock comes from a contraction in the U.S. economy.”
It’s hard to go out and meet your dealer when you’re staying home to avoid catching the Kung Flu, and honestly, the police are going to notice people standing around and coming up to cars. It’s also hard for people who may have lost their jobs because of the idiotic shutdown and just don’t have the extra cash to by something to snort up their nose.
“He continued: “Drug consumption will likely be one of the sectors hit the hardest, given that people are now prioritizing in more essential expenses such as rent and food. I would expect a contraction in drug demand of at least 10 to 15 percent this year. That could translate in an annual loss of at least $3 to 5 billion for the cartels.”
Meanwhile, other are saying that the cartels will do just fine. They’re raising their prices upwards of 400% and are now using other means to deliver their product.
Daniel Romero, an Argentina-based analyst and expert in narco-trafficking, observed that while he is yet to see any sweeping changes to the cartel business model, small dealers in the region are now relying more heavily on using drones with posts to transport cocaine.
“These drones with GPS go from one point to another in the way of posts, where they change batteries,” Romero explained. “And payments are performed on e-commerce platforms.”
Well, there is a problem with that. These are not military grade drones with all the encrypted and secure communications systems built into them. They can be very easily hijacked or tracked right back to the source. As for the e-commerce platforms? That is the one thing all the governments are good at getting into. They have no real problem tracking money transferred electronically. And as for crypto-currencies like Bitcoin? Secure, yes, perhaps to secure. Get into the computer with the wallet or in someway disrupt the password and that money is gone.
According to Gabriel Ruiz, a California border-based deportation officer with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), it is still too early to tell what the effect the coronavirus has on the cartel’s ability to move product into the United States.
“The ports of entries have stopped non-essential traffic and [illegals] attempting entry are pushed back south without formal processing. Migration, in general, has slowed,” he said. “Since DHS his aware DTOs [drug-trafficking organizations] may exploit the pandemic for their gain, CBP [Customs and Border Patrol] is able to focus more on detecting and stopping illicit activity.”
And if think that the various law enforcement agencies haven’t noticed how the China Virus has disrupted the cartel’s supply chain, think again. I have little doubt that somewhere, someone is thinking about how they can use this later on to really hit the cartels where it hurts. In the wallet.
Another thing that people are noticing is just how much China has taken control of the supply chains, not just of the drug cartels, but or everything. I suspect that there are going to be a lot of economic changes in the coming years as companies figure out that shipping all their manufacturing to China was not the smartest move they’ve made. Sadly, I think the cartels are going to see the same thing and start bringing as much of the manufacturing in house as they can. Of course, physical plants also make great targets for Hellfire missiles.
The Great Panicdemic of 2020 could be a watershed for dealing with the Cartels. In past years, we had presidents who just made noised about cleaning out the drug lords, but frankly, not a lot has been done to really hurt them. Prosecutors and Lawmen spend way to much time trying to build cases and arrest people when it’s far simpler to just go after the raw materials. Who cares if you throw drug dealers in jail? Just take their illegal materials and flush them. Eventually, they run out of money and have to resort to other things that make them more vulnerable, then you can arrest them or just shoot them.
Thatisall
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