Drug info - Colombian drug baron arrested

[fnord]

Colombia 'drug baron' sent to US

Gomez was brought to the handover by helicopter

Colombia has extradited a suspected drug baron to the United States, where he is wanted on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. Luis Hernando Gomez Bustamante, 49, known as "Rasguno", or "Scratch", is an alleged head of Colombia's biggest drug cartel, Norte del Valle.
He was arrested in Cuba in July 2004 after entering on a false passport and returned to Colombia six months ago.
He was eager to go to the US, after receiving death threats in prison.
Other suspected drug traffickers feared that his evidence could be used to convict them.
He was flown by helicopter from the Combita maximum security prison to an air base near the capital, Bogota, on Thursday.
There he was handed over to US Drug Enforcement Administration officers.
Norte del Valle became Colombia's most powerful drugs organisation after the dismantling of the Medellin and Cali cartels in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The head of Colombia's judicial police, Colonel Cesar Pinzon, said Mr Gomez was the "capo of capos".
According to the DEA, it is believed to be behind as much as 60% of all the cocaine consumed in the US.
Mr Gomez got his nickname when he laughed off a bullet wound to his cheek as "just a scratch".


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6907701.stm

[DrGonzo]

hrug:

He's already been replaced, undoubtedly. What the fuck do they think they're accomplishing? The only way to eradicate drug cartels is to legalize their products.

[jcdjinn]

I wonder who the next guy supplying the 60% will be...

[OzzBozz]

Originally Posted by jcdjinn

I wonder who the next guy supplying the 60% will be...

hahaha yep
its just a repeating process; the US cant really stop it

[DrGonzo]

The U.S. isn't just failing to stop them... America is keeping 'em from stopping. Come on now: the drug war is absolutely necessary for the cartels to stay in business! no risk, no profit.

grr!!!!

wait. why does SWIM care? he loves snorting coke. never mind! keep fighting that drug war, America!

[idr0p]

actually in theory they are making the cartels even more money the more the people they bust.. the more the risk the larger the price

[Wemhim]

Swim thinks they should just legalize it, probably less drug wars... Focus on rape and murder. The 20s and early 30s showed what prohibitions could do, alcohol made them rich, and this stuff is to, and people get killed over it.

[Alfa]

Prices have been dropping for quite some years now.

[OzzBozz]

SWIM has heard that in the 80's coke for was nearly....

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b

[epote]

how "violent" are cartels these days?

[Benga]

Originally Posted by epote

how "violent" are cartels these days?

in Columbia, cartels and their connections with various factions (paramilitaries etc) are still undermining the country's political system. a direct consequence of the tremendous power given by their cash flow...aaah, prohibitionist politics (even though there's been some change in columbia itself as far as the user is concerned...)

b

[epote]

benga: so point is, prety violent but obviously due to "politics"? SWIM was wandering at what point the obvious criminality starts at cocaine traficing. I mean, the dude, that has the plants and makes up the stuff probably aint a jack off, but the gang that distributes is.

damn, thats why LSD is better, no jack offs are involved it takes a prety acomplised chemist thus you have backround of education...

[Benga]

the plants are just farmed by farmers. from then on it usually depends on the situation, either the farmer has some knowledge and access to chemicals and makes some cocaine paste or base and sells it, or someone connected to the local cartels shows up and buys the leaves, or just takes them after a little threatening. human life isn't that expensive. but the cartels usually run the cocaine production from the paste stage, buying the paste from intermediary leaf to paste processors. occasionally they buy batches of leaves and have them processed for themselves, but they rarely run extensive farming complexes.
the leaves are also bought by government facilities, such as in Peru, and coca leaf trucks are sometimes attacked by your leftish guerrillas or rightish paramilitaries... it's a complex situation. but in swim's view the criminality comes from the vast sums money made available by cocaine's value, which is directly linked to it's legal status in the main countries of consumption...

b

[Creeping Death]

He'll be out in 2 months.