Mexican Gov't Shuts Down Zetas' Secret Cell Network 300
Miniaturized stealth submarines purpose-built for smuggling are an impressive example of how much technological ingenuity is poured into evading the edicts of contemporary drug prohibition. Even more impressive to me, though, is news of the communications network that was just shut down by Mexican authorities, which covered much of northern Mexico. The system is attributed to the Zetas drug cartel, and consisted of equipment in four Mexican border states. "The military confiscated more than 1,400 radios, 2,600 cell phones and computer equipment during the operation, as well as power supplies including solar panels, according the Defense Department," says the article. Too bad — a solar-powered, visually unobtrusive, encrypted cell network sounds like something I'd like to sign up for. NPR also has a story.
Wow (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Next up. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Don't forget that the zetas were... (Score:3, Interesting)
Why to hyperventilate.....
The Zetas, feature 31 ex-soldiers once part of an elite division of the Mexican army
31 guys out of how many thousands in the Mexican Army (who routinely train with the US), decide to get into crime
after leaving the army and finding no work.
How many ex-US Soldiers decide on a life of crime after exiting the Military? Are you going to jump up
and claim the US Government is training people to be Bank robbers?
Even the dumbest criminals usually make it thru the 6th grade.
Howbout US Schools training Murderers and car thiefs?
I can see why you post as an AC.
Re:Wow (Score:3, Interesting)
Stealth submarines, solar powered call communications networks, encrypted communications. They are equipped like a damn government.
Since a government basically is defined by who is in control a territory, and these guys clearly are in pretty good control of central America, I'd argue that they are a government.
Walks like, quacks like etc.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Interesting)
That's because their obscene profit is protected by the government.
Exactly.
You can't put up such a system on this scale without the acquiescence of the powers that be.
Even posing as TelMex workers, someone had to know what was going on, and that there was
spectrum being used that wasn't supposed to be there. And phones had to have been confiscated
from the few arrested cartel members over the years.
I suspect the cartel was being protected by some corrupt officials, or this network had
already been compromised by the Mexican Army and the cartel decided it had outlived
its usefulness.
Re:There wouldn't be any of this (Score:4, Interesting)
Youre blaming a foreign country's problem with militant cartels on a US decision on what to make legal or illegal within OUR borders?
Im sorry, does not compute. I get that legalizing might put an end to it, but its hardly our fault that smugglers exist. Are you going to blame governments for violence in human trafficking, because they have laws making such trafficking illegal? (not saying theyre the same)
If you pull your head out of your ass it computes just fine.
... then we tell adult people they can't do certain things with their own bodies and/or their own consciousness behind closed doors in their own homes. Everything wrong with the War on Some Drugs, from the cartels to the gang violence on the supply side, to the nonviolent otherwise law-abiding users filling up our jails because of drug possession on the consumption side, comes from this one massive fuck-up.
You have never heard of multinational corporations? International trade? Illegal border crossings? This is the illicit equivalent of what Wal-Mart does every day when they import legal goods from China. The illegal status just makes it more expensive (read: profitable) to compensate for the risks.
No what is our fault is when we love to talk a good game about how incredibly free we are, what great freedoms we have, how our soldiers fight and die to protect our freedoms, how the flag represents freedom
I'll tell you why governments don't want to legalize drugs. It's not because of damage to society or some other bullshit justification. No drug ever created has ever damaged society more than alcohol. It's because the naturally occurring plant-based drugs shift consciousness in a way that makes you question things like dominating others with authority, climbing the corporate ladder, sacrificing happiness for money, etc. That's a huge threat to the power-mad sociopaths who run our society.
What's your evidence? (Score:5, Interesting)
Would you support prohibition if it caused more problems than legalization?
You're misunderstanding the difference between evidence based policy and rationale based policy.
You can make a rationale for almost anything. Most issues are not 100% black-and-white, so simply emphasizing the negatives can be used as a rationale when you want to push your own agenda.
The evidence indicates that when prescription-grade cocaine is used, the negative effects are minimal. Most of the corporeal damage comes from the substances used to dilute (ie - cut) the drug, and the true expense of maintaining a habit comes to pennies a day. The rough equivalent of drinking a 2-liter soda per day.
The evidence also indicates that people can keep a family and a job and a cocaine habit. Again, most of the social damage comes from the high expense and low quality of the illicit product.
On the other hand, making illegal something that much of the population wants gives authoritarians the perfect excuse to curtail our freedoms. The police enjoy the ability to root around in our cars, houses, and personal effects looking for drugs. The government gets to regulate how much cash we carry, where our money comes from, and how we travel because we "might" be smuggling drugs.
Don't buy into the "we need to do this because it might lead to that" mentality; don't submit to the fear.
Go where the evidence takes you.
Re:Nice thought, however not close to reality. (Score:5, Interesting)
If General Mills made cocaine, a 10-pound bag would be $5 at the supermarket, and the Zetas wouldn't have money for tech toys or automatic weapons.
Moonshine still exists because stills are still illegal! What, did you think it was legal to make your own brandy and drink it yourself? That's crazy talk.
Re:Nice thought, however not close to reality. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Nice thought, however not close to reality. (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually a still is legal for personal use with the right documentation which is easily obtainable from your local court house. If you would like I will send you my recipes I have.
It's a cultural thing, Where I grew up many people had stills none of them had paperwork (few could read), and most of them would shoot at anyone one they thought might be from the government. "I nicked the census man last week."
Cocaine, and those types of drugs have zero chance of getting legalised for general consumption anywhere in the US. They are simply too destructive and addictive to the human body.
Cocaine is vastly less destructive to the human body than an annoyed Zeta heavy, or a corrupt DEA agent. Not saying it will become legal anytime soon, but it's clearly the lesser of two evils.
Re:There wouldn't be any of this (Score:5, Interesting)
There are plenty of "stoners", if by "stoner" you include anyone who occasionally uses marijuana, in professional positions. And they are not universally incompetent, tardy, or unproductive. Of course if you use pot when you're working, you're likely to be less productive. Most people are less productive after having a beer, too; that's no reason to ban either one.
Further, there are really two issues here -- one, whether marijuana users are impaired in one's ability to contribute to society. Two, whether such impairment would justify banning the drug. The first I believe to be false as an absolute while it may supportable statistically. The second... well, to ban a drug for that reason is to claim that the individual is society's slave, merely a cog in a machine, and their own enjoyment means nothing compared to their productive output. That's a pretty nasty thing.