Sheriff's deputies raid 2,500-plant pot patch [Mexican Drug Cartel In Oregon/Illegal Aliens]

Mail Tribune ^ | Aug. 24, 2006 | ANITA BURKE

[TKDietz]

"Just let 'em go and they'll be dead within the year."

Why would they be dead within a year? For getting busted? I wonder why everyone thinks that. My guess is people watch too much TV. In real life people who get busted aren't likely to be killed by the organization that hired them unless they start rolling over on the organization. When they do that they are putting their lives and the lives of their families in serious jeopardy. If it were standard practice to kill these "farm hands" and the mules who carry drugs or money just because they get popped by the police, these people would be far more likely to help the police get the higher ups because they'd have nothing to lose. At least they'd have a chance at getting police protection, even getting paid, if they were to start working for law enforcement. They don't tend to get any help from the organization that hired them if they get busted though. These organizations don't bond these people at the bottom of the totem pole out of jail or hire them lawyers, but they don't kill them just for getting busted. Losing a load of dope or a patch of pot plants, or even a load of cash, that's all just part of the normal costs of business to these people. They don't like it, but they make tons of money on all the loads that get through, the patches of pot that aren't seized, and they insulate themselves from getting busted by having layers of expendable people down below them who have little knowledge about the workings of their organizations, and who are unlikely to start talking about what they do know because they know what is liable to happen to them and their families if they do. Of course if these people thought they were going to be killed anyway, the organization wouldn't have so much leverage over them.

[Salvation]

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[investigateworld]

You're somewhat correct as to how the cartels 'reward' and/or 'punish' the flunkies that get caught.

But I do recall one female, about twenty who was transporting a trunk full of cash. Alas, she got drunk/high and stopped.
The Mexican cartel bailed her for cash ...

They then used propane (?) torches to rearrange her skin.

They left her hands alone so the corpse could be fingerprinted and they could get the bail exonerated.
They're really nice guys ;^)

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

You're one of few on here who knows what (s)he's talking about.

[OregonRancher]

The ranch is south of Grants Pass, in the mountains, and we have a place on the Rogue.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

The plants were taken to a mill and burned, Winters said.

Oh, to live within a hundred yards of that mill.

[blackie]

"The SWAT teams detained two armed Hispanic men found at the gardens. Rafael Santoya-Pineda, no age or address listed, and Noel Tadia-Arreguin, no age or address listed, both are being held at the Jackson County Jail on immigration holds, officials said."

Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!

[TKDietz]

I never said they were nice guys, only that they don't tend to kill these people just for getting caught. I don't doubt that these organizations frown on their mules getting drunk and high and getting themselves caught, especially when they are carrying huge amounts of the cartel's cash though. Loads of dope are relatively cheap to these guys, money is a different matter. They don't tend to trust just anyone with huge sums of money and they expect those carrying their profits to act with a greater degree of professionalism than some yahoo they'll hire to do something like carry a trunk load of cheap Mexican brickweed. It doesn't surprise me that some of these organizations might make an example out of someone who lost a lot of the organization's money through just being stupid and reckless.

I bet the higher ups only had a few grand in these patches of pot plants that are the subject of this article though. It's true they could have made a good profit from these patches of plants, nowhere even close to 12 million, but a hefty profit nonetheless. The thing is though that they probably have several other plots growing elsewhere and may very well have smuggling and other operations going as well. They'll still make tons of money. These are high risk investments with huge profit potential. They expect to lose some of their crops, a small percentage of their loads of dope, and even some of their cash. That's why they don't put all their eggs in one basket. The profits they make on the crops that make it and the loads that get through make up for their losses several fold.

[TKDietz]

I just noticed from your profile that you are a retired detective. You probably already know about a lot of the stuff I'm talking about. What I know comes from my work as a public defender in an area where a lot of drug mules are caught and a lot of money is seized. Did you work as a narcotics officer?

[investigateworld]

Work as a Narc?

Briefly, it was/is the most corrupt division at my former employer.

Couldn't hold my nose tight enough!!!
We had sergeants plotting the kidnapping of various movie star kids and buying million dollar houses. (that was a lot of money back in the eighties and nineties)

And you are correct, they do allow for a certain amount to be intercepted.

They also will throw a few peons to The Man if they want to keep the focus on a certain sector.