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Mexico's drug war leaves marijuana
growers to thrive
September 2, 2010 - McClatchy
CORRE COYOTE, Mexico — Times are good for the dope growers of the
western Sierra Madre mountains. The army eradication squads that once
hacked at the illicit marijuana fields have been diverted by the drug
war that's raging elsewhere in Mexico.
The military's retreat has delighted farmers who are sowing and reaping
marijuana. Cannabis cultivation in Mexico soared 35 percent last year
and is now higher than at any time in nearly two decades, the State
Department says.
It's also been a boon for Mexico's powerful organized-crime groups.
Marijuana is perishable, bulky and less profitable than their other
exports — heroin, cocaine and crystal meth — but drug trafficking
experts say that every major trafficking organization in Mexico reaps
significant income from marijuana, drawing on cross-border criminal
networks that carry cannabis to scores of U.S. cities.
"They tend to be a cash cow for the drug trafficking organizations,"
David T. Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for international
narcotics and law enforcement affairs, said during a visit to Mexico
this week.
An aerial tour deep into the Sierra Madres at the side of a Mexican
army general and a small army eradication unit — one of a handful that
are still actively working — shows marijuana crops flourishing in
valley after valley of the rugged, pine-covered region.
The mountain slopes and valleys in the part of southern Chihuahua state
that's hugged by Sinaloa and Durango states are sometimes called
Mexico's Golden Triangle — after the opium-producing Golden Triangle of
Southeast Asia — because of their productivity. Illicit crops include
not only marijuana but also poppy, the flowering plant that provides
the white gummy latex that's later processed into opium and heroin.
It's a dangerous area. Even the poorest farmers tote weapons. A third
of the region's population is thought to earn its living from the
illicit drug industry.
Peasant farms need little to grow small fields of marijuana: bags of
seeds, some fertilizer, lengths of hose for primitive irrigation
systems and a few months for the crop to mature into 10-foot tall
plants.
According to State Department estimates, the areas of harvestable
marijuana fields in Mexico grew from 10,130 acres in 2001 to 29,652
acres in 2009. During the same period, the area of eradication dropped
by half.
Destroying marijuana crops isn't easy. Unlike Colombia in South America
— which aggressively uses armored aircraft to spray herbicide on coca
fields, killing the raw ingredient for cocaine — Mexico largely relies
on the brute force of troops to yank up marijuana crops.
On a recent day, sweat poured off soldiers as they tugged to uproot
tall marijuana plants. The marijuana grew in a carefully tended field
adjacent to a creek. Even without much fertilizer and in rocky ground,
the weed grew robustly. When the soldiers couldn't pull up the plants,
they hacked at them with machetes.
Then, with a good dousing of gasoline, the piles of uprooted plants
went up in flames.
After a dozen soldiers had worked hard for several hours, barely an
acre or so of weed had been pulled up and burnt.
Farmers see little stigma — or risk — in growing cannabis.
"It's always been said that poppy is controlled by organized crime, and
marijuana is for the people. Growing it is like growing corn," said the
general, who spoke to a journalist on the condition — set by Mexico's
Defense Ministry — that he not be named.
Marijuana pays better than corn — but not much. A couple of pounds of
marijuana sells locally for barely $15 or $20. It isn't till the weed
moves closer to the U.S. border that the price climbs. Once it's
smuggled into U.S. states such as Arizona and Texas, the price soars
past $500 a pound wholesale.
It used to be that smugglers packed several tons of marijuana into
tractor-trailers that were crossing the border. The likelihood of
detection has made such methods riskier, however, and smugglers now use
tunnels, ultra-light aircraft and other methods to get the dope across,
even packing it on the backs of illegal migrants.
"Marijuana is very, very profitable but it is difficult to transport,"
said Francesco Pipitone, a crime expert at the Mexico City office of
Kroll Associates, a global risk-consulting company with headquarters in
New York.
Surveys show that some 3 million Mexicans use marijuana with some
regularity. That pales next to the United States, however, where the
National Institute on Drug Abuse reported in May that nearly 26 million
Americans had used marijuana in the past year.
The biggest competition for Mexican cartels comes from domestic
marijuana growers in the United States. A document produced by local,
state and federal law enforcement officials in California's Central
Valley, a major hub for marijuana cultivation, says that California's
2009 marijuana harvest alone surpassed the annual estimated harvest of
nearly 32,000 tons in Mexico. It put overall U.S. marijuana production
at 76,380 tons.
"Mexicans sometimes tell me that they think we are self-sufficient in
marijuana," Johnson said.
In reality, though, Mexican pot may remain popular because it's far
cheaper than domestically grown cannabis in the United States is. The
low price of the less-potent Mexican marijuana buoys demand, inducing
cartels to stick with it as a revenue-producer.
"Marijuana is a very lucrative business for every Mexican cartel due to
the fact that they control it from cultivation to wholesale
distribution," said Joseph M. Arabit, the Drug Enforcement
Administration special agent in charge of the El Paso, Texas, field
division.
Estimates vary widely on how important marijuana revenue is to Mexico's
criminal groups, which have expanded into activities outside of drugs.
One expert, Edgardo Buscaglia, who was a research scholar at the Hoover
Institution, a right-of-center research center at Stanford University,
until 2008 and now teaches in Mexico City, said he thought that
marijuana revenue amounted to "less than 10 percent" of income for the
crime syndicates.
"Overall, drugs are No. 1 in terms of net income," Buscaglia said,
referring to the spectrum of narcotics and marijuana. "But then you
have counterfeiting, smuggling, human trafficking, kidnapping and
extortion, in that order."
Experts in the Mexican and U.S. governments offer estimates as high as
20 to 30 percent, noting that marijuana — unlike cocaine, which must
come from its source in the Andean region of South America — is grown
at low cost and is a steady, year-round source of basic income for
cartel kingpins.
"They use it to fund all their activities," said David Cuthbertson, the
FBI's special agent in charge of the border region around El Paso.
He added that marijuana smuggling had changed over the years. "They
used to deliver it by the ton. . . . Now it's a couple of hundred
pounds," he said. "People get killed over losing a load of marijuana
now."
Mexican cartels have pushed hard into marijuana cultivation in the
United States, sending satellite groups to farm hidden plots within
U.S. national forests. One cartel, the Familia Michoacana, maintains
extensive plantations in California, deploying illegal migrants to
guard and maintain hidden grow sites.
As the drug war has intensified, tallying more than 28,000 fatalities
since late 2006, President Felipe Calderon has found the army and navy
forces stretched thin and unable to carry out intensive eradication
efforts.
One expert, Edgardo Buscaglia, who was a research scholar at the Hoover Institution, a right-of-center research center at Stanford University, until 2008 and now teaches in Mexico City, said he thought that marijuana revenue amounted to "less than 10 percent" of income for the crime syndicates.
That sounds like a reaaally fucking lowball estimate, just stupid at best and intentionally deceptive at worst.
This link reports the ONDCP itself putting the number at about 60%..."$8.6 billion out of $13.8 billion in 2006 -- came from U.S. marijuana sales, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "
Yes of course heroin and coke are more expensive by weight, but almost nobody uses those compared to the countless millions of people and kids who pool their allowance money to buy brickweed.
This article is dancing crazily around the elephant of legalization, which would completely cut the legs out from under the cartels.
I agree, it's bizarre to think that anyone could be involved in violence over Mexican pot while the streets of some states in America are flooded with the best hash and weed in the world.
If someone were to divert some of the medical weed from Colorado (which is basically going for free to those willing to fill out some forms and allocate some space to a few plants) to some people who like to smoke for fun, the Mexican army could save their trouble stamping out terrible weed. Mexican weed really is terrible.
Lots of folks don't even like to smoke weed once it's legal like in Colorado! Five years ago, you could be like, 'Hey, check out this weed I got, it's dank!' and people would be interested, now they just roll their eyes and ask you if you've got any beer to drink.
Mexican marijuana is worth dick, even after it crosses the border. Think about how much big a pound of weed costs and think about how god damn big a pound of weed is. They are making money smuggling, instead of bringing over 100 pounds of weed they could be carrying 200-300 kilos of coke in the same amount of space. What makes more sense, making $10,000 smuggling weed or making several hundred thousand dollars smuggling coke, heroin, or meth. The cartels are more involved with drugs that are worth a lot more money. Not to mention most of the cocaine and heroin is coming through Mexico, you have a lot of marijuana being grown domestically and in Canada. Also, I know cokeheads and dope fiends that spend there entire paycheck on dope and coke, I don't even know anyone that smokes shitty Mexican weed anymore.
Quote: fapjack said: Mexican marijuana is worth dick, even after it crosses the border. Think about how much big a pound of weed costs and think about how god damn big a pound of weed is. They are making money smuggling, instead of bringing over 100 pounds of weed they could be carrying 200-300 kilos of coke in the same amount of space. What makes more sense, making $10,000 smuggling weed or making several hundred thousand dollars smuggling coke, heroin, or meth. The cartels are more involved with drugs that are worth a lot more money. Not to mention most of the cocaine and heroin is coming through Mexico, you have a lot of marijuana being grown domestically and in Canada. Also, I know cokeheads and dope fiends that spend there entire paycheck on dope and coke, I don't even know anyone that smokes shitty Mexican weed anymore.
Mexican pot can be fucking awesome, though I know your just thinking of ditch weed. Acapulco gold is well known from the 60's and 70's as being fire; as the climate there is absolutly perfect for cannabis.
And I disagree, I do not think they are "more involved" with harder drugs. Why? Because not as many people use them. If you look at numbers from ANY domestic source, there are WAY MORE pot smokers than cocaine snorters, herion shooters, yadda yadda yadda. Everyone from a fucking 15 year old in high school to a 65 year old retired account needs to buy weed somewhere. It makes perfect sense that cannabis is there #1 cash crop.
-------------------- Nothing I say or do is factual; every single thing I write is a work of fiction. Got no idea what I'm talking about here~
"Once in awhile, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right"~ (Grateful Dead)
"o puer, qui omnia nomini debes"; "You, boy, who owe's everything to a name"~ Mark Anthony
"Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum."; "Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system."~ Cicero
I'm not going to argue against the cartels being in the weed game too, they are more heavily involved in cocaine and heroin though because it is much more profitable to smuggle and there is a lot less competition. There's tons of growers in the US and Canada that have a much better product, a lot more marijuana is grown in the US than Mexico. Look at DEA operations against the cartels, they seize a lot of everything.
Quote: fapjack said: Mexican marijuana is worth dick, even after it crosses the border. Think about how much big a pound of weed costs and think about how god damn big a pound of weed is. They are making money smuggling, instead of bringing over 100 pounds of weed they could be carrying 200-300 kilos of coke in the same amount of space. What makes more sense, making $10,000 smuggling weed or making several hundred thousand dollars smuggling coke, heroin, or meth. The cartels are more involved with drugs that are worth a lot more money. Not to mention most of the cocaine and heroin is coming through Mexico, you have a lot of marijuana being grown domestically and in Canada. Also, I know cokeheads and dope fiends that spend there entire paycheck on dope and coke, I don't even know anyone that smokes shitty Mexican weed anymore.
Mexican pot can be fucking awesome, though I know your just thinking of ditch weed. Acapulco gold is well known from the 60's and 70's as being fire; as the climate there is absolutly perfect for cannabis.
And I disagree, I do not think they are "more involved" with harder drugs. Why? Because not as many people use them. If you look at numbers from ANY domestic source, there are WAY MORE pot smokers than cocaine snorters, herion shooters, yadda yadda yadda. Everyone from a fucking 15 year old in high school to a 65 year old retired account needs to buy weed somewhere. It makes perfect sense that cannabis is there #1 cash crop.
Good point man. May be more profit density, and they def. take advantage of those markets too, but weed is the easiest to move.
And you may not know anyone that smokes brickish weed, but in the central corridor where conditions are unfavorable for growing a lot of people would perfer a 25$/7 gram deal to a 60$ or even 65$ / 3.5 gram (if not 3... jews) deal. Especially when having tried both, the mexi schwag really isn't that bad. Sure, it doesn't taste as great, but it doesn't tast bad either, and honestly sometimes it's milder strength can be appreciated when I have things to get done. A lot of the sticky-icky I get will put me completely out of functionality for like four hours after a good rip.
Quote: Sinaloa Cartel To date, Operation Xcellerator has led to the arrest of 755 individuals and the seizure of approximately $59.1 million in U.S. currency, more than 12,000 kilograms of cocaine, more than 16,000 pounds of marijuana, more than 1,200 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 8 kilograms of heroin, approximately 1.3 million pills of Ecstasy, more than $6.5 million in other assets, 149 vehicles, 3 aircraft, 3 maritime vessels and 169 weapons.
Quote: Gulf Cartel To date, Project Reckoning has resulted in the arrest of 507 individuals and the seizure of approximately $60.1 million in U.S. currency, 16,711 kilograms of cocaine, 1,039 pounds of methamphetamine, 19 pounds of heroin, 51,258 pounds of marijuana, 176 vehicles and 167 weapons. Project Reckoning, a 15-month investigation, combined into one centrally coordinated effort several multi-district enforcement operations that all involved individuals with close ties to the Gulf Cartel. Operation Dos Equis , Operation Vertigo, Operation Stinger and Operation The Family as well as numerous local operations combined to form Project Reckoning. In the Northern District of Texas, Operation Puma has resulted in the arrest of 20 individuals, the seizure of 277 kilograms of cocaine, 900 pounds of marijuana, and nearly $2,500,000 in US Currency. An indictment, partially unsealed today in the Northern District of Texas, charges multiple defendants with conspiracy, drug trafficking and money laundering offenses, and seek to forfeit to the United States millions of dollars in cash obtained through drug trafficking and property bought or used by the organization to conduct their illegal drug trafficking activity.
The 20-month investigation, which was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), has thus far resulted in the seizure of approximately $45.2 million in U.S. currency, 27,229 pounds of marijuana, 9,512 pounds of cocaine, 705 pounds of methamphetamine, 227 pounds of pure methamphetamine or “ice,” and 11 pounds of heroin. The investigation has also netted $6.1 million in property and assets, as well as roughly 100 weapons and 94 vehicles.
Quote: La Familia To date, Project Coronado has led to the arrest of 1,186 individuals and the seizure of approximately $33 million in U.S. currency, 1,999 kilograms of cocaine, 2,730 pounds of methamphetamine, 29 pounds of heroin, 16,390 pounds of marijuana, 389 weapons, 269 vehicles, and two clandestine drug labs.
Quote: Multiple cartels In addition to 2,266 arrests overall, “Project Deliverance” has led to the seizure of $154 million, and 1,262 pounds of methamphetamine, 2.5 tons of cocaine, 1,410 pounds of heroin, 69 tons of marijuana, 501 weapons and 527 vehicles during the entire course of the operation
The last one wasn't exclusively going after just cartels, but everyone down to street dealers. The operations going after cartels have a correlation though, majority of profit comes from cocaine for cartels, not marijuana.
Quote: Sinaloa Cartel To date, Operation Xcellerator has led to the arrest of 755 individuals and the seizure of approximately $59.1 million in U.S. currency, more than 12,000 kilograms of cocaine, more than 16,000 pounds of marijuana, more than 1,200 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 8 kilograms of heroin, approximately 1.3 million pills of Ecstasy, more than $6.5 million in other assets, 149 vehicles, 3 aircraft, 3 maritime vessels and 169 weapons.
Quote: Gulf Cartel To date, Project Reckoning has resulted in the arrest of 507 individuals and the seizure of approximately $60.1 million in U.S. currency, 16,711 kilograms of cocaine, 1,039 pounds of methamphetamine, 19 pounds of heroin, 51,258 pounds of marijuana, 176 vehicles and 167 weapons. Project Reckoning, a 15-month investigation, combined into one centrally coordinated effort several multi-district enforcement operations that all involved individuals with close ties to the Gulf Cartel. Operation Dos Equis , Operation Vertigo, Operation Stinger and Operation The Family as well as numerous local operations combined to form Project Reckoning. In the Northern District of Texas, Operation Puma has resulted in the arrest of 20 individuals, the seizure of 277 kilograms of cocaine, 900 pounds of marijuana, and nearly $2,500,000 in US Currency. An indictment, partially unsealed today in the Northern District of Texas, charges multiple defendants with conspiracy, drug trafficking and money laundering offenses, and seek to forfeit to the United States millions of dollars in cash obtained through drug trafficking and property bought or used by the organization to conduct their illegal drug trafficking activity.
The 20-month investigation, which was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), has thus far resulted in the seizure of approximately $45.2 million in U.S. currency, 27,229 pounds of marijuana, 9,512 pounds of cocaine, 705 pounds of methamphetamine, 227 pounds of pure methamphetamine or “ice,” and 11 pounds of heroin. The investigation has also netted $6.1 million in property and assets, as well as roughly 100 weapons and 94 vehicles.
Quote: La Familia To date, Project Coronado has led to the arrest of 1,186 individuals and the seizure of approximately $33 million in U.S. currency, 1,999 kilograms of cocaine, 2,730 pounds of methamphetamine, 29 pounds of heroin, 16,390 pounds of marijuana, 389 weapons, 269 vehicles, and two clandestine drug labs.
Quote: Multiple cartels In addition to 2,266 arrests overall, “Project Deliverance” has led to the seizure of $154 million, and 1,262 pounds of methamphetamine, 2.5 tons of cocaine, 1,410 pounds of heroin, 69 tons of marijuana, 501 weapons and 527 vehicles during the entire course of the operation
The last one wasn't exclusively going after just cartels, but everyone down to street dealers. The operations going after cartels have a correlation though, majority of profit comes from cocaine for cartels, not marijuana.
Straight from the National drug threat assesment 2009 link
"Levels of marijuana use are higher than those for any other drug, particularly among adults; however, rates of marijuana use are decreasing among adolescents."
"Asian DTOs and criminal groups have increased their indoor cannabis cultivation operations in many states; some of these groups are linked in a nationwide criminal network."
"Despite the high level of domestic marijuana production by indoor and outdoor cannabis cultivators, marijuana flow from Mexico has remained high and possibly increased in 2007."
"Drug seizure data indicate that the flow of marijuana from Mexico into the United States has remained at high levels during a period of increasing domestic marijuana production. According to law enforcement officials, the possible 2007 increase in marijuana flow from Mexico may be the result of Mexican criminal groups attempting to supplement marijuana supplies because of significant crop losses in the United States. Exceptionally high domestic cannabis eradication during 2007, supported by several large, well-coordinated outdoor eradication initiatives in western states, may have temporarily reduced some supplies of domestically produced marijuana. Also, during 2007 severe drought in the southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions limited outdoor cannabis cultivation and reduced the availability of locally produced marijuana. The combination of exceptionally high eradication in western states and drought in some cultivation areas in eastern states may have prompted Mexican criminal groups to increase the flow of marijuana produced in Mexico (see text box on page 22) to the United States.
"Mexico is the primary foreign source of marijuana in the United States. According to U.S. Government estimates, approximately 15,500 metric tons of marijuana were produced in Mexico in 2007, primarily for export to the United States."
-------------------- Nothing I say or do is factual; every single thing I write is a work of fiction. Got no idea what I'm talking about here~
"Once in awhile, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right"~ (Grateful Dead)
"o puer, qui omnia nomini debes"; "You, boy, who owe's everything to a name"~ Mark Anthony
"Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum."; "Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system."~ Cicero
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