Cocaine Production Plummets After DEA Kicked Out of Bolivia

Somehow, nobody learned a lesson from prohibition in the U.S... or did they?

When alcohol was illegal, people still drank it but it was:
A) Manufactured with varying levels of quality/safety and people were killed/injured just in the production process. About 1000 people died every year from drinking tainted liquor.
B) Sold to criminal organizations who handled the distribution. The criminal organizations were constantly at war with each other so crime skyrocketed. Prisons and the courts couldn't keep up with the volume of criminals.
C) Impossible to control because it was relatively simple to make. Also led to corruption at every level of law enforcement because of all the bribes.

Now, the parallels are obvious but let's look at why the government would continue such an idiotic "war" with a different target.

Money

The federal government spent $300,000,000 in 1920's money to combat illegal liquor sales during prohibition. A lot of that money went to the newly-formed "Bureau of Prohibition" which would later become the ATF when liquor enforcement was no longer a big enough priority to sustain an entire government agency. Police departments were also paid quite handsomely to combat liquor sales, just as they are now paid to fight the war on drugs.

Ultimately, the war on drugs is a continuation of the lessons learned during prohibition: create a problem so you can claim to be the solution to that problem then profit from all the money that flows your way as you work both sides of the issue.

Certain drug cartels are "allowed" to operate because they give kickbacks to the alphabet agencies. When you see a cartel or drug lord taken down, it's most likely because he's gotten on the bad side of some US intelligence agency.

The DEA scatters when the CIA shows up LOL.

So we have one hand fighting, and one hand helping -- both reaping benefits from the drug cartels existing. You can't get a sweeter deal than that.

The ironic thing? People in the DEA probably think they're "fighting a noble war on drugs!" -- Meanwhile the CIA guys are stacking bundles of money into castles, laughing at the absurdity of it all.

been railing about this for awhile now.

the DEA, ICE, and CIA are all in on it. The largest drug cartel in the world is Uncle Sam.

a reply to: kloejen

OP your link isn't working for me.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

The DEA really thinks it's fighting the good fight, when they get to close to one of the "protected" cartels, the CIA steps in and "takes over".

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
a reply to: kloejen

Bolivia was never the problem to start with.

Colombia is the place, it might be a cliche to say that it is the coke capital but it really is. The harvesting and refining of coca is primitive and brilliant. Those who produce coke are truly off the grid-they use natural canopies to avoid aerial surveillance, they use generators to power 'refineries' and they siphon water from nearby tributaries to aid in the process.

And Bolivia is the problem?

its only primitive because of the way it's made. You need lots of diesel gasoline to make coc aine, so generally those who grow the plants are the same people who make the pure stuff, in small batches, then move onto the next plantation for the season.
This goes on ALL over South and central America where the plant thrives, its just that traditionally Colombia was the place to be because that's where the biggest of the cartels to export the stuff came from.
Cocaine isn't that much of an issue anymore in Columbia, it's all moved to Mexico now.

Jeez who would a thunk it?

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

The DEA really thinks it's fighting the good fight, when they get to close to one of the "protected" cartels, the CIA steps in and "takes over".

Something like that.

The CIA has Mayan Express go south, and there is a ton of exposure. So what do they do? Mine a DEA asset for a new supply chain.

Go into Mexico and create a new Top Dog by funding the Sinaloa. Essentially, fighting shoulder to shoulder with them while they try to monopolize Mexican illicit flow. With Sinaloa in charge of its enormous turf, now you have an overland route to bring drugs and people into the US straight from south America.

The CIA utilized a DEA asset to make their supply chain.

The argument then is often made that its all a "Trojan Horse" to bring down the "big fish". LOL...yeah. Then Noriega is pointed to as one such "big fish". Except Noriega was our partner....until he wasn't. And that is when we arrested him. He became a resource that had depreciated all of its value.

Taliban banned poppy fields and look what happened to them. Watch out Bolivia, you could be marked as the next terrorist to stand in between drugs and profits.

RIP Michael Ruppert. Didn't hear he was gone, sad.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

The CIA has other reasons besides just untraceable cash for being in the drug business.

Being in the drug game introduces the CIA to a lot of ... undesirable people, the kind of people that you can network with and get information from. These people can also do things that the CIA can't...

Don't get me wrong, the boat loads of untraceable cash is a part of it ...

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

The DEA really thinks it's fighting the good fight, when they get to close to one of the "protected" cartels, the CIA steps in and "takes over".

Not long ago, I watched a documentary on youtube about the CIA and the crack epidemic in the 90's. If it wouldn't be off-topic, I'd post it. I'm not sure if it would derail the thread or be off- topic though.

a reply to: kloejen

Wouldn't be surprised if they were seizing the drugs then turning around and selling it.

originally posted by: jrod
a reply to: kloejen
The DEA is heavily involved in Afghanistan and look what happened with opium production.
I brought this to an under cover DEA agent's attention once and I could see the frustration in his face, almost blew his cover because how angry he got when I told him the Taliban makes the DEA look like idiots when it comes to controlling opium production over there.

Once the Taliban take control of Afghanistan again, the poppies and opium will be history. I would think US citizens would be outraged that their soldiers had been and were being used to guard the poppy fields. I suppose the USA's federal government and military function under the Dune dictum: The Spice must flow.

So, does that mean that the DEA was very effective in combatting the drug, or were they somehow involved?

Surely somehow involved. Now are moving on to another place that needs their "help", that's what should be looked into.

a reply to: kloejen

Devils advocate here. Maybe the DEA was "kicked out" because it was mission accomplished? Possibly they finally had a reliable Government in place that was willing to deal with the problem while maintaining or growing the nations legitimate economy.

originally posted by: sirChill
What's even funnier is all the "bad" drugs (the ones that can really f#ck your life up like crack and heroin) has all gone down over the past 15 years...

Where have you been? Heroin has been on the RISE. A very fast and steady rise over the past several years...

So it kinda negates your knowledge is power theory. Sorry.

originally posted by: intrptr

Go figure. Morales:

“I have no regrets – in fact, I am pleased to have expelled the U.S. ambassador, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and to have closed the U.S. military base in Bolivia. Now, without a U.S. ambassador, there is less conspiracy, and more political stability and social stability. Without the International Monetary Fund, we are better off economically.”

Article

Go figure.......

USA involvement in south America has been nothing but catatrophic.

The Coca plant is one of the most nutritious and useful plants on this planet. A handful of coca leaves contains more proteins than red meat, more calcium than a glass of milk and more vitamins and minerals than most fruits. Chewing coca leaves helps as pain relief, it alleviates hunger (great for losing weight if needed) and delivers fast energy in a better and healthier way than sugar. The alkaloids it contains also help against nausea and altitude sickness, which is why it is indispensable to people living in the Andean mountains. Used in its natural form, coca does not produce any toxicity or dependence.

Criminalizing this plant for the sole reason that a drug (coc aine) can be produced from it is about as logical as criminalizing bleach or caustic soda because they can be used for bomb making (you'll find instructions for this type of bomb making on Youtube, so let's forbid Youtube as well. Oh that's right, it's owned by Google, one of the most powerful companies in the US so that can't be done.) or why not criminalize kitchen knives since they can be used as crime weapons.

Thank you Bolivia and Peru for legalizing this beneficial plant. No thanks whatsoever to the DEA, that uses American taxpayer's money to destroy something that has the potential for great health benefits to the American people.

Why do they show misleading pictures?

The chunks are not crack, they are presenting it a powder but powder bricks come in powder form. That stuff we see is repressed junk filled with nail polish remover.

I've seen it come off the boat, it DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THAT.

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
a reply to: kloejen

Bolivia was never the problem to start with.

Colombia is the place, it might be a cliche to say that it is the coke capital but it really is. The harvesting and refining of coca is primitive and brilliant. Those who produce coke are truly off the grid-they use natural canopies to avoid aerial surveillance, they use generators to power 'refineries' and they siphon water from nearby tributaries to aid in the process.

And Bolivia is the problem?

Bolivia and especially Peru aren't by any means NOT a problem. For a while they were the leaders in production. Peru overtook Columbia in production for several years recently, but last year Columbia began bouncing back. Supposed, eradication efforts by the U.S. have only served to shift the supply production to from country to country over the years.

The problem IS prohibition & demand, as it HAS ALWAYS been. Prohibition only serves to create a very profitable black market with a component criminal element to protect huge profits. The U.S. "learned" this 100 years ago and it's still trying to prove history wrong. Demand is the key element...and you will do nothing to stop some human beings from desiring a powerful escape from the status quo. No amount of education or scary stories will stop drinker's from drinking, smokers from smoking (whatever substance they smoke), and people from "licking" toads or huffing nitrous oxide. Want to stop production of Coca? Make it's refined form -aine legal, the price drops, the criminal element slowly dies, and I hesitate to say it...but probably the "bad boy" mystique is gone and even demand will taper off slightly. Eventually production stops in lieu of more profitable markets; say in loan sharking, extortion, racketeering, etc. Because on the flip side of demand, is a criminal element will always be looking for a short cut to success, and by their nature, can be very flexible in how they go about it =)

Once the U.S. is allegedly ("allegedly" because I am a FIRM believer the U.S. IS COMPLICIT in the illicit drug trade, for reasons you won't read on the internet) successful in beating back Columbia again, production will move again. The cycle will never end. And even as I type this, some well paid Cartel botanists are engineering strains that can grow in other places besides South America, or strains that double yields, or highly potent strains which require less raw material to make the refined product. Believe it! Just as the mary wanna people did with that plant---bred it for success just in time to see the end of it's prohibition...what a coincidence!

And It's Peru in the Lead!

Columbia is NOT the only problem