Suspected head of $21B crime syndicate may be world’s most innovative drug lord
When I see a number like $21 billion, I can't help but think of all the economic and social good from drugs being regulated, like Cannabis, Tobacco and Prostitution.
That's a lot of taxation money lost, a lot of policing wasted, and a lot of lives lost needlessly.
Wow, what a fascinating article. It still blows my mind that annually his organization made seven times more than the Sinaloa Cartel. I think the last paragraph says it all:
>What gave traditional organized crime its strength in the past—the violence, the control of territory, the ethnic loyalty and defined hierarchies—are the heart of its weakness in the present. Tse had a better system. Instead of ethnic loyalty, transnational and inter-organizational co-operation. Instead of territory, logistics. Instead of hierarchy, metrics. Instead of centralized control, connections. Tse Chi Lop is easily the most significant criminal in Toronto’s history, and he represents, in an entirely diseased way, a perverse triumph of the city. His vast criminal organization flourished through open-mindedness and entrepreneurship, by creating markets and exploiting them in a spirit of eager globalization and cosmopolitanism.
Imagine how much money criminal syndicates could make if they took notes from this guy and all worked together.
There's a National Geographic documentary series called Drugs, Inc. [1] that I find fascinating.
Let's set aside what an abject failure the so-called War on Drugs has been in the US and the violence of the drug trade and just appreciate the market economics for a second.
One episode listed all the stages coca leaves took to becoming crack cocaine. Processing in jungle labs, transportation to smugglers, further processing, flying to Mexico, entering the US and distribution. And each stage there is loss to law enforcement, rival gangs, theft, etc and that loss rate is reflected in how the price jumps at each stage.
In another, it detailed how meth (IIRC) entered the US primarily in Phoenix. As a result, Phoenix has (so the show said) the cheapest meth in the US. For every 1000 miles you radiated away from Phoenix, the price doubled.
To me it was fascinating to see people who generally had little education, came from terrible backgrounds and grew up amidst crime and violence talk about the math of distance and price and how it impacted his distribution organization. It's sad to see someone who actually has a talent for hustling and basically sales be lost to the drug world.
This is yet another reason why I think the "are you a felon?" question should basically be outlawed in the US.
Additionally you see how organizations have evolved to insulate themselves from disruption (from rivals or law enforcement). Most people know very little and certainly not the big picture. Merchandise frequently changes hands.
I don't know what the solution here is. I fully support legalization of recreational cannabis in any world where alcohol consumption is legal. I certainly don't think we should be sending people to prison for possession.
At the same time, you have cities like Seattle, Portland and San Francisco that are literally being destroyed by non-policing of drugs and small property crime.
But the US prison industrial complex is and always has been a direct attack on the poor and minorities.
"legalization of casinos killed Asian organized crime in Toronto. He estimates there was an 80 per cent decline in street-level crime when underground gaming houses dissolved."
The 20% of crime that is left I assume is drugs-related
A little personal anecdote on how the supply chain has "professionalized" here in the Netherlands. My friend, a boring dad, found an envelope filled with coke on his doormat. Soon after, his neighbor ringed the door and apologized for the incorrect delivery.
Apparently you no longer have to go to some shady area at night, you just place your order on WhatsApp and you get it by mail. Indeed, Amazon level convenience.
When I was younger, our idea of fun was to get drunk, which is pretty costly once you build up a tolerance for alcohol. These days, youngsters pop a cheap party pill (XTC) for 5 euro and that's about all they consume for the night.
Late night cab drivers used to complain how these drunk kids would puke in the car, now they shit in the car instead. Even in the very nice peaceful town where I live, street corners show piles of "laughing gas" capsules on the floor, which is the new thing.
All of this said, the truly hard drugs like heroine, crack, meth do not seem commonly used here in the general population.
Back on point, I've never understood the appeal of being a drugs kingpin. It never ends well. You can never check out and retire. You have enemies everywhere. You're always on the run. It doesn't matter whether you control a revenue of 1 billion or 10 billion in any practical sense. It must be a power trip I don't understand.
> He achieved the size of Sam Gor not by murder and torture, but by industrializing his business, reducing the cost per unit, providing an excellent product at a fair price, and establishing well-maintained networks of key partnerships.
Gustavo Fring would be proud.
Such an amazing story. I wonder how much of it is accurate, or true?
though it was about the sackler family
I can’t wait for this season if “The Wire”.
I would love to have a list somewhere of the largest criminal "supersyndicates." They have to be known if they are so large, no?
This one would probably have been up there, if not at the top.
It is a shame he just doesnt come clean and write a book. Could auction a nice movie deal out of it at least.
The world's most innovative drug lord is probably someone who hasn't been caught!
Thought this was about big pharma based on the title
> Suspected head of $21B crime syndicate may be world’s most innovative drug lord
What's amazing it 1/3 of that money could solve World Hunger -
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/26/economy/musk-world-hunger...
It says a lot that the United Nations World Food Programme wouldn't got to someone like that and offer immunity, in exchange to solve the most complex and pressing issue of our time.
Isn't the worlds most successful drug lord ever the CIA. They sold cocaine and the journalist Gary Webb who uncovered it was attacked by the CIA mouthpieces of corporate journalists and corporate media and "suicideded" himself. He shot himself in the head twice to succeed in the "suicide".
Afghanistan after first overturning the Taliban had the biggest increase ever in drug production ever when the CIA was running the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Alliance_(book)
https://theintercept.com/2014/09/25/managing-nightmare-cia-m...
@dang wheres the comment about c i a's relations regarding drug money? why has the comment been removed rather than downvoted?
Why is it that every time I see an amount of money like that I know they've pulled it out of their asses?
I know, comments on web site design are boring... but that very large body text font size (25px) was supremely annoying.
I don't really understand why you would do something like that. I've been seeing it relatively frequently recently.