[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.

[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.