Mexican drug cartels in atlanta??? (Dalton, Lawrenceville: apartments, renting, houses)

[OhioNative]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

But those illegals had to have somewhere to land once here, and lo and behold...here's a vast area of aging cheap apartment complexes and rinky-dink, low-quality housing developments put up with little if no resistance by TPTB for the first massive influx of newcomers.

One thing that I have to give the Gwinnett County commission credit for is the lack of recent apartment rezonings. One example of really poor planning is in the Sugarloaf area right next to the Gwinnett arena, where they allowed 2 or 3 apartment complexes right in the area that is supposed to be the crown jewel of the county!!! Now if we could just stop all of these freakin' townhomes...

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by Pcola110

Ahh you think they can't move in your polish and gated n'hood. You must be kidding yourself!

Nope- not kidding myself in the least- the crap we're talking about here happens in the low-rent areas, not in the type of area I live in. It's not a matter of being a "polished and gated community" (which my neighborhood isn't, btw- it's about a certain socio-economic level, which isn't the level I happen to live in. Sorry if that hurts your feelings.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by OhioNative

The areas where these activities take place have several things in common - lots of apartments, low priced rental houses, and lots of extended stay motels.

Agreed.

Whenever you have places (such as apartments) where masses of people are crammed together stacked, and in a relatively small space, and on top of that you have those complexes near the motels, you create easy areas to get "lost" in - Unless you do something stupidly obvious, you can blend in fairly easily.

I currently live in Powder Springs. The city will not issue building permits to developers who build apartments. There are literally NO apartment units at all in the town limits. None. They will also not issue permits for motels. The homes that are for rent are usually in neighborhoods where neighbors keep close eyes on things. So while there may be some issues with teen crime that rises here and there, any drug activity that goes on is pretty much limited to mom-and-pop setups of people growing pot in their basement or a couple of goobers trying to deal out of their house - and who quickly get caught. But because there are no rental apartments where you have "tenants # 1250 - 1575", it's easier to keep tabs on who's living where, and you don't get the accumulation of nameless and faceless people in mass in small areas who can do this stuff without it being known.

Unfortunately as you get closer to the city, it's just not practical for areas like Smyrna or Tucker to BAN apartments or motels. But more COULD be done to do checks on renters other than a basic credit score check.

[spacelord75]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Nope- not kidding myself in the least- the crap we're talking about here happens in the low-rent areas, not in the type of area I live in. It's not a matter of being a "polished and gated community" (which my neighborhood isn't, btw- it's about a certain socio-economic level, which isn't the level I happen to live in. Sorry if that hurts your feelings.

No offense, Bob, but I think you may be taking a bit too narrow of a view here. Obviously these types of criminals are PROBABLY not living in your neighborhood (although, I would be willing to bet money that there is at least one meth house within 2 miles of your home...they are in suburban areas everywhere), but there is a residual effect that I think you are missing. Not so much about the kidnappings, but rather the large scale nature of drug trafficking and gang activity. While you may feel safe in your home (although I'm sure some group has at least driven through your nice neighborhood to see what nice things there are to take there), I would also guarantee that there are people in your neighborhood that fuel the fire of drug cartels by buying drugs. Also, while the problem may be contained to gang-on-gang acts now, all we have to do is look back to the gangs of East LA in the 80's/90's and see how everyone ignored the problem until innocents got caught in cross-fire and killed. You feel safe in your house, but what about at the gas station? Or the grocery store parking lot? Or the ATM?

As someone who has extensive family in law enforcement (both local and FBI) I can tell you that your bubble simply does not exist. It's truly scary how close to complete vermin we are on a daily basis. You may not know it or see it, but it is the truth. There are a lot of things happening that you do not read about or see in the news.

[spacelord75]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

Agreed.

Whenever you have places (such as apartments) where masses of people are crammed together stacked, and in a relatively small space, and on top of that you have those complexes near the motels, you create easy areas to get "lost" in - Unless you do something stupidly obvious, you can blend in fairly easily.

I currently live in Powder Springs. The city will not issue building permits to developers who build apartments. There are literally NO apartment units at all in the town limits. None. They will also not issue permits for motels. The homes that are for rent are usually in neighborhoods where neighbors keep close eyes on things. So while there may be some issues with teen crime that rises here and there, any drug activity that goes on is pretty much limited to mom-and-pop setups of people growing pot in their basement or a couple of goobers trying to deal out of their house - and who quickly get caught. But because there are no rental apartments where you have "tenants # 1250 - 1575", it's easier to keep tabs on who's living where, and you don't get the accumulation of nameless and faceless people in mass in small areas who can do this stuff without it being known.

Unfortunately as you get closer to the city, it's just not practical for areas like Smyrna or Tucker to BAN apartments or motels. But more COULD be done to do checks on renters other than a basic credit score check.

What is really alarming is the new trend that is developing due to the housing market slump. People are renting out homes to anyone now (especially in the exurbs) b/c they cannot sell their homes due to being underwater, and rents in their area are way to low to cover their mortgage, so they get desperate. Additionally, think about all the foreclosed homes sitting there, abandoned. While it used to be easy to pinpoint a particular apartment complex, now the low-lifes can actually blend into the mass-produced anonymous tract-like neighborhoods that cover the metro area.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by spacelord75

As someone who has extensive family in law enforcement (both local and FBI) I can tell you that your bubble simply does not exist. It's truly scary how close to complete vermin we are on a daily basis. You may not know it or see it, but it is the truth. There are a lot of things happening that you do not read about or see in the news.

I never said I live in a bubble- but to get riled up and worried about something that I can't do anything about because the morons at higher levels of our government are unwilling to take the necessary actions, is counter-productive. Are there people in my area that do drugs? I'm sure there are- just like there are in any area. Is there a meth lab in my area? Probably- but it's not the occasional snaggle-toothed crackhead that we're talking about here- it's major groups that are running drugs up and down the coast for distribution. Until something happens on a large scale at the federal level, there's nothing we can do about the situation, so I'll focus my energies someplace else.

[spacelord75]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

I never said I live in a bubble- but to get riled up and worried about something that I can't do anything about because the morons at higher levels of our government are unwilling to take the necessary actions, is counter-productive. Are there people in my area that do drugs? I'm sure there are- just like there are in any area. Is there a meth lab in my area? Probably- but it's not the occasional snaggle-toothed crackhead that we're talking about here- it's major groups that are running drugs up and down the coast for distribution. Until something happens on a large scale at the federal level, there's nothing we can do about the situation, so I'll focus my energies someplace else.

I gotcha - it just came across as though you were saying you were somehow protected because of your socio-economic status. I agree that one can't sit there worrying about this stuff all the time, but just saying it's good to be aware it's out there.

[mrdkb]

Here are the facts: The article clearly states that Drug cartels set-up shop for the purpose of transporting drugs up the east coast. NOT IN GWINNETT. One would think that Gwinnett was filled with crackheads reading some of the stuff I read. The real question is, why Gwinnett? And the answer is obvious: Close to I85, Mexicans can easily blend in, apartments in Norcross and Western Lawrenceville (I live in East Lawrenceville, which is worlds away), etc...

2 years ago, in Rural Dacula 2 grow houses were found (marijuana) where I see confederate flags and Bible Thumpers. QUESTION - Is this product being grown for the purpose of selling in Gwinnett? LET'S USE COMMON SENSE!!!!!!! THE PROBLEM IS A FEDERAL PROBLEM (AS IS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION).

Now, I'll tell when people should be concerned/scared. When and If the RIFF-RAFF move in. The corner-boy; the petty corner weed/crack seller; the single parent household dweller (66% of all black children grow up in single parent households); the derelict, the menace who prey on neighborhoods and schools for no good reason. This is local problem that is very, very, very difficuly to fix in a suburb!!!!!

And as for all of the {Removed: do not use insulting words please - moderator} who mention Marta and crime - we know that MARTA would bring the RIFF-RAFF - if not implemented right.. I am black and honest enough to say it!!!! These "Drug Cartels" are just using the county for location. PLEASE THINK!!!!!!

[Merin]

Originally Posted by mrdkb

And as for all of the {Removed: do not use insulting words please - moderator} who mention Marta and crime - we know that MARTA would bring the RIFF-RAFF - if not implemented right.. I am black and honest enough to say it!!!! These "Drug Cartels" are just using the county for location. PLEASE THINK!!!!!!

Please explain.

[itsallu]

They're buying new homes in the area to grow plants in the basements. All around metro folks dont get out like they used too - they're sitting in traffic. Authorities tagged about three homes down in Sandy Ridge all growing pot in the basement. I'd be more worried about a home invasion than the drug cartels though - its more frequent than druggy vs druggy.