from the 5100+-days-of-free-meals-and-accommodations dept.
The twin brothers Pedro and Margarito Flores, bosses of the Chicago operation of Mexico's notorious, $2 billion Sinaloa drug cartel, were sentenced to serve 14-year sentences by a US District Court judge on Tuesday, under tight security. The judge noted that he would have given them both life sentences had it not been for their secret cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Agency, which led to the indictments of cartel leader Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and numerous others. The brothers were apprehended by Federal agents in Chicago in 2008, but agreed to become Federal informants in exchange for reduced sentences. They wore wires as they flew to Mexico for secret meetings with Guzmán's lieutenants, and took occasional phone calls in Chicago from Guzmán himself, which were recorded by Federal agents.
As recently as 2013, Sinaloa is reported (by Bloomberg, as referenced by BusinessInsider) to have been supplying 80 percent of the cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine on the streets of Chicago, by the DEA's reckoning. And Chicago and Los Angeles were the two principal distribution hubs of the Sinaloa cartel in North America (map sketch here from BusinessInsider); Chicago supplied wholesalers in New York City, Washington DC, and other major cities in the eastern half of the US.
Guzmán was indicted by the US in 2009, but remained a fugitive until his arrest in Mexico in 2014. So far, Mexico has resisted requests for extradition to the US, preferring that Guzmán face justice in his home country.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 30 2015, @01:58PM
These articles are put up by people who are against immigration reform.
Our neighbors to the South are generous, law-abiding people. To mischaracterize their orderly and productive culture by posting these articles amounts to nothing more than a smear tactic.
Immigration reform will pass, and America will continue to reap the benefits of a diverse influx of new citizens.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 30 2015, @02:29PM
I can't tell if you are a Poe's Law post or not, but as stories go, this is certainly one of the least pointful that has made it through the submission queue. Really, what is there to say about it? The DEA flipped two high-value informants and they still got 14 years in jail and will probably be forced to choose between solitary or jail-house assassination. So....?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 30 2015, @05:46PM
Moral of the story: Don't trust those Constitution-violating, rights-shredding, justice-subverting, lying scumbags at the DEA, whose sole mission is to ruin lives and destroy the US Constitution. These are the disgusting fucks who take credit for creating parallel construction. [wikipedia.org] Do not trust them, even if they bust you they'll just renege on whatever "deal" they claim they'll cut you.
The DEA needs to be abolished ASAP.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 30 2015, @08:07PM
You seem to think the DEA lied to the informants.
I see no evidence of that, and given just how massively rich they were (and probably still are) they probably had the finest legal representation during the negotiation.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday January 30 2015, @05:18PM
Yup, and I suppose criticism of Israel's foreign policy is also anti-Semitic.
Well, shit. If I'm gonna be labeled racist or anti-Semitic for criticizing the behavior of Hispanic criminals or Israeli foreign policy, I might as well partake in the fun that comes along with it --
Beaners! Kikes! Brown Menace! Shoah World Tour 2015!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 31 2015, @02:42AM
Mods aren't getting it -- this time good old E-f is being sarcastic. Not a troll...
Sadly I don't have mod points to repair the damage.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 30 2015, @02:00PM
As recently as 2013, Sinaloa is reported (by Bloomberg, as referenced by BusinessInsider) to have been supplying 80 percent of the cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine on the streets of Chicago
And nothing of substance has changed, except for the increase in violence as the various factions battle it out to see who will be the new king.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by GungnirSniper on Friday January 30 2015, @03:55PM
This entire story wouldn't exist if drugs were legal. Instead we have corruption, murders, overdoses, and are helping turn Latin America into a collection of failed narco-states. Plus, this money is flowing out of the country. If Republicans want to cut immigration from Mexico, they need to stop the rot that drug money is feeding.
Cocaine, heroin, and meth are dangerous, sure. But they are more dangerous because instead of getting consistent doses, users can go from highly-adulterated junk to nearly-pure stuff. Keith Richards didn't die from heroin because he was getting medicinal grade stuff for years. It's not like alcohol where you can smell the strength before using.
We all learned from history class what happens when alcohol is banned. Bootleggers, smugglers, and gangsters made untold sums while we jailed people whose only crime was wanting to control what they put into their own bodies. The police and enforcement groups play up the risk of these substances to keep them banned which keeps them at work.
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by tathra on Friday January 30 2015, @06:07PM
a lot of "pro-gun" arguments work just the same for drugs:
"criminalizing the act means everyone who does it is automatically a criminal"
"criminals will just ignore the laws and do it anyway"
"the laws only punish [otherwise] law-abiding citizens"
etc
additionally, prohibition creates very serious problems, like directly funding terrorism because of the hugs profits it creates.
even cops are against prohibition. [www.leap.cc] decriminalization and harm reduction is a much better way to go about it, educating people and ensuring they have the proper tools and techniques. full-on legalization is a much better route because drug use declines when legalized, [forbes.com] partly because people can get the medical help they need to quit and partly because the "forbidden fruit" appeal is gone.
prohibition needs to end if for no other reason than the fact that its a pointless waste of money.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by SlimmPickens on Friday January 30 2015, @09:41PM
I think comparing drugs and guns like that is a false dichotomy. For one thing, nuts with drugs hurt themselves, whereas nuts with guns hurt other people.
But the truth is that neither thing should be completely legal or completely illegal. Each type of drug requires a different level of control just as each type of gun requires a different level of control, and in all cases it's highly situational.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 30 2015, @11:17PM
> a lot of "pro-gun" arguments work just the same for drugs:
Except for one very key difference - it is absolutely normal to want to get high, even animals do it.
Shooting someone is not something any sane person actively desires to do.
That makes the the pro-drug argument significantly stronger than the pro-gun argument.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 31 2015, @03:15AM
not every gun owner shoots people, shooting guns give you an adrenaline rush similar to drugs
(Score: 3) by CirclesInSand on Friday January 30 2015, @09:14PM
I don't know much about the movers and cartels, but how likely is it that these guys actually survive their 14 year sentence?
The summary to me sounds like "yeah we'll give you a good deal" and then backhandedly told the world that the defendants just informed on the gang.