Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
With the billions of dollars that flow through drug cartels why dont they develop a modern military to ensure that they cant be arrested or "hunted down". IF a cartel had weapons production capabilities and modern weapons and miltiary they could expand market share and go head to head with govts.
They may even have the money to develop nuclear weapons and leverage nuclear blackmail that would ensure non arrest.
with as much money as they have why would they remain rag tag (compared to a modern military like the USA). They dont need nuke subs or carriers just a modern army and air power which cuts out alot of costs.
It's not exactly like they can just go to Missile R Us and buy whatever guns and missiles they'd like. Military-grade hardware is a little harder to get your hands on than conventional weaponry, and the facilities to develop their own would be too conspicuous and subject to attack. Besides, it's a lot easier to simply infiltrate the existing military hierarchy.
That said, the Mexican cartels have indeed become strong enough to become essentially untouchable just with conventional weaponry. Two recent attempts to arrest high-ranking cartel members ended in massive shootouts with the cartels victorious and law enforcement tucking tail and running. And it took direct U.S. intervention for Colombia to finally get the upper hand on the Medellin cartel. Narco-terrorists still control large swaths of rural territory there.
It's not exactly like they can just go to Missile R Us and buy whatever guns and missiles they'd like. Military-grade hardware is a little harder to get your hands on than conventional weaponry, and the facilities to develop their own would be too conspicuous and subject to attack. Besides, it's a lot easier to simply infiltrate the existing military hierarchy.
That said, the Mexican cartels have indeed become strong enough to become essentially untouchable just with conventional weaponry. Two recent attempts to arrest high-ranking cartel members ended in massive shootouts with the cartels victorious and law enforcement tucking tail and running. And it took direct U.S. intervention for Colombia to finally get the upper hand on the Medellin cartel. Narco-terrorists still control large swaths of rural territory there.
Actually they pretty much can. International arms markets will sell you pretty much whatever you ask for if it's available, what's typically available are small arms (rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, miniguns), mortars, grenades, RPGs and MANPADS, small field artillery,, military helos, military trucks, APCs, some older tanks (T64, T72 vintage), and ammunition when needed for them. The issue is it's not delivered, that's on you. But if you can export hundreds of tons of illegal products and thousands of people illegally to the US annually, you can probably manage importing a few thousand tons of arms.
Because its much cheaper and easier for them to simply buy the top generals/political leaders that control national militaries.
Where do you suppose they get the fully auto machine guns they favor?
Yes, look at the DEA...they are essentially the cartels lobbyists and enforcers in the US. Everything the agency does ends up benefiting the drug cartels and the drug market.
In other words...DRUG CARTELS RELY ON DRUGS BEING ILLEGAL IN THE US...DEA FIGHTS TO KEEP IT THIS WAY. (its that simple).
However that is not an army. Those end users are let's call them contractors who provide their own armament for a slice of the profit. In the end the cartel itself doesn't care if the pawns end up dead. To keep the chess analogy while the king does have knights in close escort should he try to send a queen on missions those knights won't stop armies of soldiers targeting the kingpin with lethal force like they do squads of cops who need greater evidence obtained by rules to stop the targeting of the kingpin with an arrest warrant.
You are right, after Pablo Escobar, they stopped targeting the king pins and top guys.
Even today, when they went after El Chapo, he wasnt even in the cartel anymore! The cartel he ONCE controlled is still operating like normal and shipping tons of drugs into the US every year. (notice how they did not go after the new top guy at the cartel).
Think about that for a minute, these cartels ship drugs into EVERY CITY IN THE US, (and on a CONSISTENT basis), and it ALL has to fly beneath the radar of law enforcement, border control, etc...I think they are VERY skilled at logistics!!! Probably MUCH MUCH better than UPS, DHL, even, lets see any of these companies try do move packages around, while having to avoid detection by police, how long would they last?
It may be politically expedient for the US govt to allow most of the illicit drugs through the border so they can either seize it and then resell to pay for expenses, or use it for asset forfeiture, or making a number of arrests to feed the giant prison industrial complex possible. There are lots of reasons why keeping all the drugs out would be disastrous for the US economy.
With the billions of dollars that flow through drug cartels why dont they develop a modern military to ensure that they cant be arrested or "hunted down". IF a cartel had weapons production capabilities and modern weapons and miltiary they could expand market share and go head to head with govts.
They may even have the money to develop nuclear weapons and leverage nuclear blackmail that would ensure non arrest.
with as much money as they have why would they remain rag tag (compared to a modern military like the USA). They dont need nuke subs or carriers just a modern army and air power which cuts out alot of costs.
Look at the Syrian civil war these last few years. ISIS got involved in it (ISIL/Daesh) and you'll see as soon as they got too big, too organized they got their butts handed to them. They drew too much attention to themselves.
The cartels are pretty damn well armed and can go gun to gun with any military. They have a structure and plenty of goons that know their stuff when it comes to a gun battle.
Don’t be fooled. The Mexican Cartels know what they’re doing.
It's not exactly like they can just go to Missile R Us and buy whatever guns and missiles they'd like. Military-grade hardware is a little harder to get your hands on than conventional weaponry, and the facilities to develop their own would be too conspicuous and subject to attack. Besides, it's a lot easier to simply infiltrate the existing military hierarchy.
That said, the Mexican cartels have indeed become strong enough to become essentially untouchable just with conventional weaponry. Two recent attempts to arrest high-ranking cartel members ended in massive shootouts with the cartels victorious and law enforcement tucking tail and running. And it took direct U.S. intervention for Colombia to finally get the upper hand on the Medellin cartel. Narco-terrorists still control large swaths of rural territory there.
But thats the crux of the issue is that when the US gets involved the cartels loose the upper hand. IF they had more advanced weapons that caused the US to have skin in the game it could give them tremendous leverage. Like if bombers and planes were being shot down, not a helicopter once in a while but fighters and bombers.
I would want advanced anti air systems if I were a cartel.
Because it's the other way around: modern militaries build drug cartels, it's simply good business.
If drug cartels were to build militaries, they would become government, then they would outlaw drug cartels (or whatever) and the cycle would repeat: monopolists don't share profits.
It's really nothing new in history, and a lot of responders to the query have already touched on that quite nicely.
For just one example out of many, study the condottiere system in Italy around the 1000s-1400s period.
The occasional spoiler is when a heavyweight becomes momentarily serious about all-out conquest in short time, a relatively rare occurrence in history.
Hope this helps.
I mean isent this how the barrbarians over took rome when rome was weak? Someone actually had to organize and weapon up ...
But you have to know when the emporer has no clothes.
Look at the Syrian civil war these last few years. ISIS got involved in it (ISIL/Daesh) and you'll see as soon as they got too big, too organized they got their butts handed to them. They drew too much attention to themselves.
They did not really have super-advanced weapons though, they are also a non-nucelar power.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
