RI Mom- The story eludes to the rampant drug, gang, and crime syndacates that live in Chicago, not gun trafficing. It's cultural and territorial, not as much a gun running thing. Chicago is considered one of the major drug pipelines in the US, they've got most of the major gangs you've heard of, and 92% of the kids in Chicago live in low income to poor families (couldn't find the percentage of 1 parent homes). Their culture is don't fight the gangs or they'll get you, so no one helps the police get rid of them. The city has essentially given itself up to the syndacates and gangs, yet complains about the death rates. Go figure.

IF they want to cure Chicago they've got to take on the root problems- A no snitchin' mentality, low education rates, a lack of after school opportunties for kids, a lack of support for the kids, a lack of jobs and job opportunities, easy entry into gangs and quick money, rampant drug running and use, corruption, and complete lack of leadership. That's their problem, the guns are just one aspect of the problem- NOT the cause, not the primary issue.

Get a clue. The crime syndacates, drug syndacates, and gangs don't want legal guns, don't worry about background checks, and would be perfectly happy getting theirs by smuggling them into the country with their drugs or stealing them from legal owners. The only thing that could make it worse is by publishing who owns guns so that they can focus their attention on how to get them.

Grammar police alert:

elude = avoid or escape from

allude= make reference to indirectly, hints at

That is all.

Why would you think that Wayne Lapierre would read an article about the Chicago political machine appeasing it's citizens by telling them that something in another country is to blame for the problems in Chicago? What have you done today to help break the viscious circle?

RI Mom,

I live in the fine city of Chicago. The crime rates are extremly high in the south and west sides. I can tell you this much, all the little thugs in these areas dont get their guns legally. So what is the point of bringing up the NRA? Not only do the little dead beat thugs get their drugs from mexico they also get their weapons from them as well. And 99% of the gang killings are done with hand guns not assault riffles like the media and Obama want you to think.

RI Mom, deflect don't dialog eh? I'll type slower for you- It's a drug culture in Chicago, that's the PRIMARY problem. They actively use drugs, participate in the drug trade to get quick money because of their rampant unemployment and low income problem, and protect the drug trades and gangs because everyone else is in them and if they speak up they'll get killed. Guns play a role, but they are an aspect of the problem and not the cause. If the gangs couldn't get guns they'd turn to machettis(used by some gangs), knives(often used but not publicized), bats, etc. If a gang wants to get someone in Chicago how do you think it's going to turn out- a group of gang members wanting to kill them and maybe someone calling 911 to get help. The weapons don't matter when you've got 4-5 attackers and a 10+ minute lead on the authorities.

If Rahm and the President want to change Chicago they've got to wake up and say gear up the FBI, BATFE, DOJ, and National Guard, declare a state of martial law, and directly take on the culture with heavy firepower, not rhetoric and proclamations.

You can get a gun legally and illegally. I prefer my way of being legal, so that I can defend myself against this illegal anyday! Why is this man still on the streets? If they know what he is doing lock him up, throw the darn key away!
Isn't this the man along with his brother donated to Obama's campaign? The money was allegedly returned after some whistle blower let the information out? Obama is very anxious to grab our guns. Why is that? Hitler did the same thing, look what happened to Nazi Germany. This is a free nation! I support the constitution and the bill of rights. If you are wise you will too. Obama is destroying this nation one piece at a time.

The issue in Chicago isn't a gun problem. It's a culture problem. Guns are a symptom, not a cause. It's like treating an infection that causes a fever. In order to cure it, you give an antibiotic and a fever-reducer to make it bearable in the short term. In Chicago, they've only given a fever-reducer, and the infection rages on.

Violence is caused by the lack of hope and a realistic chance at prosperity for many within the inner city. People want to blame guns, or rap music, or video games, or whatever else is popular this month. The problem is complex, and may be beyond repair for many people. I believe it starts with a mixed approach. Some are too far, those that commit violent crime should be punished to the maximum extent of the law (think cut out the infection, it's rotted). It's harsh, but they've done the crime, do the time. Next, let's save those that haven't gone completely over by truly working to build the community, the schools and community organizations (churches and the like). Build and aid businesses in the low-income areas and help build pride in the community.

Chicago can be saved, but it'll take hard work and dedication.

At least three major Mexican drug cartels are currently raging war over billions of dollars worth of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and more on Chicago's streets.

So go after the drug cartels in Mexico. You can start by telling the Attorney General to stop sending the guns to them.

The cartels are relying on Chicago gang members to help them distribute their inventory, and the clashes over turf have contributed to the city's surging homicide rate amid a still sluggish local economy that has both thinned out the city's police force and left many Chicagoans -- particularly black, male, poor ones -- feeling as though they don't have many alternatives to consider.

Again, go after the gang members. Walk up to them and demand they stop this evil and barbaric behavior. And what other alternatives should we give them? Free money to the families from other tax payers, check. A free education, check. A government subsidized college education, check. They don't want to accept any of the alternatives they have now, why would you think that anything else would change their mindset?

It is time to start working disbanding gangs. Sadly they have been around for decades. It is a true shame that things only seem to be escalating. *shakes my head*

Capone based his bootlegging and other criminal enterprises out of Chicago during Prohibition, when it was illegal to make or sell alcohol

Apparently NBC and the AP see the similarities in the root causes of rampant inner city crime during Capone's time and the current, does anybody else?

Don't waste your time, many here probably live in some hole in the wall, nice safe place.

They apparently can't comprehend that the guns are smuggled as easily as the drugs.

Anyone who is against extensive background checks for weapons that not only kill, but are designed to kill need to have their head examined. Like many I am not against law abiding, mentally stable people owning guns for protection and hunting.

No need for assault weapons, no need for large clips or magazines.

Many of those guns that end up on the streets are bought here, and delivered to the gang members with drug shipments.

"and left many Chicagoans -- particularly black, male, poor ones -- feeling as though they don't have many alternatives to consider."

Whatever! everyone has a choice, and these punk mother phuckers chose a life of crime. Even without the economy and/or police being dwindled, they would have chosen this lifestyle anyway. They are mostly a lazy breed always wanting the quick way out and don't believe in working for nothing.

It's always about the poor black man, isn't it. get a life.

It's amazing, we can invade and occupy foreign lands looking for "muslim terrorists"

but we cant invade and occupy our inner cities and tackle gangs?

ever consider that our govt (and local police force, and war on drugs force) have a vested interest in keeping this violence and drug trade alive and thriving?

or are you telling me our military is too incompetent to rid our nation of american terrorists?

or are you telling me it's ok to treat muslim americans different from all other americans?

or are you telling me that we are happy as hell to watch latino and african american males kill each other, so long as thats the way it stays?

or is it just more convienent for the gun-nuts to have a legit boogeyman to ensure all those assualt riffles stay in their hunting arsenal?

or is it all of the above?

Which is why the gun show loophole needs to be closed, I would bet that most of the guns the cartels use were either bought at gun shows or stolen, and they are delivered to the gangs who sell the drugs that make the cartels money.

IA.ScooterTramp

and those guns you keep crying about are getting here how? do they walk all by themselves?

gm Tramp

Holder ships them to Mexico, and then Guzman ships them back. Seems pretty inefficient to me.

RI MOm Thank God you are not running this country .. I live in Mass and we have some of the toughest laws in the country in re to hand guns , and why do you think there are so many killings and shootings ? I wish you would open your mind and look at both sides of the story . Straw purchases are done by an individual but MOST are legal . Not all gun buyers sell to criminals . The illegal stolen guns are untraceable because the serial numbers are filed off the weapon . So when a criminal uses a gun in a crime ( Most of mass crime guns are stolen from New Hampshire , and also come form down south ( stolen ) and also note that inner city drug crime is the cause of a lot of these issues . NOT legal owners ... READ RI Mom and educate yourself on BOTH sides of the issue . Legal gun owners are the first ones to condone these activities and have been working with local police to arrest and convict . Ask the local authorities why these slugs are still walking the streets ... Liberal laws - period . No DA's push laws to go after gun crimes , just legal owners ... We have a mandatory one year law for illegal possession . Go look up how many punks were arrested for illegal gun charges and how many were prosecuted under this law ? Hardly any because your DA's would rather send them back out on the street and try to catch them doing larger crimes . Its a legal issue not a gun owner issue !

RI Mom

STRAW purchase of guns is the most significant factor in gun trafficking.....

Agreed.

HOW do you stop this if you DON'T HAVE UNIVERSAL LAWS on gun purchases?

Instead of punishing the 90-some percent of responsible gun owners, how about this: Pass a Federal law that makes the possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony punishable by a mandatory 10-20 years, and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony punishable by 20-life. Then make any straw purchaser subject to the same penalties. Then tell the felon if he doesn't give up the straw purchaser, he can serve both sentences consecutively.

Jessica - a couple of things:

1) We can't invade our inner cities because there would be an outcry of rights violations. NYC had stop and frisk to take on crime in their worst areas and those same communities had activists go to court to overturn the policy. I now live in Chicago and I'm amazed when I hear "why are the police raiding clubs for drugs in Englewood - its racist - they don't do that in Wrigleyville. Well of course they don't because there isn't rampant drug and gun problems in that area.

2) I can be very critical of the police, but when it comes to their investigations in the areas with the "no snitch" culture - it is hard to fault them when their investigations bog down. It needs to be a partnership of the police working with the community to make things better.

3) Bottom line is outsiders can not force a community to change. They can assist, help be a catalyst, etc. but they can't do it all themselves. The community has to step up and take some responsibility and do things differently that will start to change the culture from within.

4) "Assault weapons" have nothing to do with any of this. They simply aren't used in these (or any other) crimes - mostly because thugs and gang bangers aren't going to shell out $2,500- 4,000 black market price for a gun that has the same firepower as a handgun they can get for $400

I forgot to mention all the for-profit prisons that just keep filling to the brim with drug dealers...

there's some good money to be made there too, a steady stream for decades to come.

root out the problem, what will those capitalist prison owners do?

RI Mom -

Tell me what your suggestion is for this scenario: Bob is a felon and wants a gun. He has his girlfriend who doesn't have a record to go legally buy one for him which he then uses to shoot someone.

Exactly what law will stop that shooting? Here in Illinois we have no "gunshow loophole" - all transfers, private or dealer, require a background check and a FOID card. Half of all the guns recovered in Chicago were originally sold in-state.

Assuming Bob is an idiot and doesn't file off the serial number - if by chance, the police ever find that gun they can trace it back and see that his girlfriend purchased it. At that point, she will most likely say the gun was stolen. Best case scenario she eventually gets prosecuted fully and goes to jail for a couple of months but realistically the odds of that happening are very low.

But the fact remains, a person was shot either way.

As a resident of Chicago - I'm convinced that until we target the gangs and go after the problem from a demand side, nothing will change. Black tar heroin is highly illegal but the same guys with guns can easily get it. If we can't stop the massive amounts of already illegal drugs, what makes you think we can stop the much smaller flow of guns??

1.22

Rich OConnor

Uhhh... you identified STRAW SALES

Good Luck ...not getting SHOT when you try that. And Good Luck tracing that gun to a legal purchase

So your fake outrage has nothing to do with stopping the crime you are certain is caused by the gun culture, but rather getting rid of the guns that you have been indoctrinated to think are evil. What a great community organizer you must be, insisting that others act so you can sit back and accept the rewards or deflect the blame.

OMG....the CIA must be fuming. We know they dont like competition...especially in the drug business!

jay

1) what about the outcry from muslim americans about their rights violations?

that doesnt seem to stop us.

Describe RAMPANT DRUG PROBLEM? users using, isnt a problem?

And yes, it happens in wrigleyville - boystown, especially. My uncle died in a car on the street in wrigleyville of a drug overdose...

besides, who do you think they're selling the higher priced drugs too?

the south side poor people?

no, we wouldnt raid the downtown skyscrapers and bust all the coke heads...no, we wouldnt do that.

you're right...the white people would FREAK!

2) I think Afghanistan has a similar no snitch policy, but they seem to do alright...

3) Really, then what the hell are we doing in the middle east? If not FORCING CHANGE?

4) Right, true...guns are guns, and if they shoot lots of bullets...I call that an ASSAULT WEAPON. but I suppose, it's a matter of how you view WORDS.

but you're right....there's nothing WE can do.

we only consume most of those drugs...really, there's nothing WE can do.

Wow! At what point will the American people wake up? The underlying challenge here stems from our failed attempt to manage morality, the Prohibition of Alcohol. What's that you say? Yes, the Prohibition of Alcohol. When we tried to end that failed experiment our federal government didn't want to lay off the 4500 employees they had at the Treasury Department's Bureau of Prohibition, it was during the great depression after all. So they devised a scheme that made hemp evil and used that new evil as a change agent. Whereas, it was no coincidence that when the old Bureau of Prohibition was dissolved that new Bureau of Narcotics appeared in 1931. This failed policy called the war on drugs is nothing more than an unsolicited extension of another failed policy, lipstick on a pig.

Here's the kicker to this mess, unlike Prohibition, the American people have no say in the present policy. There is no Amendment to repeal in this instance. The government enacted this war, no one ever asked or voted for it, they told us it was needed it for our own good; but in reality, it was only for the good of the government.

Think about the parallels of the highest crime in our history both then and now. The tommy-gun was the weapon of that day to be outlawed, now the so called assault weapon is being eyed. Crime bosses and gangs ruled, roaming about freely and making insane amounts of tax free money. Now think about what happened when we repealed Prohibition. We the people took away the one black market and the government created another for its own benefit.

What the heck do we do? Good question, many have tried to make inroads to ending this mess but the government stands to lose to much, in tax funding for the numerous agencies that have made a home for themselves because of this war, DEA (supplemental federal funding for every state and local police agency in the country), the privatized prison industry, mandatory rehabilitation facilities, etc...

Hemp constituted 90% of what the DEA confiscated last year, this is due t it being bulky easy to detect. Imagine if the hemp was removed from the DEA's list of drugs. That would mean 90% of its efforts could be focused on everything else. Wake up America!!!!!!!!

I see two options:

End prohibition of drugs (ALL OF THEM) and set up legal avenues for people to get doped up all they want (and pay taxes on that, because those taxes should fund whatever social ills come from drug consumption)...make these "thugs" into legit business owners, just like we did when Prohibition ended.

OR

if we cant send our military into the inner cities to root out and find the gangs (really, is it that hard?) and turn MOST big cities into war zones (see this is why white people dont want to do this, they dont want to have the bullets fly outside of the ghettos)...

then i say we go after the consumers of the drugs - mandate drug testing for all people employed or receiving govt benefits.

when you test positive, you go to jail - end of story.

no buyers, no sellers.

oh wait, white people still end up on the losing end of this crackdown on drugs.

hmmm...yeah, lets just do nothing and pretend white people play no role in this entire drug situation.

You think that if gun manufacturers stopped making guns and every legal citizen turned in their guns , that criminals could not get their hands on guns? How ignorant can you be? Efficient repeating fire guns are 19th century technology as are machine guns, with semi auto being early 20th century technology. Afghanistanis made AK47's by hand when the USSR had invaded their country. You do not think criminals could do the same, with access to better machining tools, tools that are normally used for auto repair? Banning guns only takes guns from law abiding citizens. Criminals do not care about laws.

He's also one of the richest: Forbes magazine has estimated the value of his fortune at around $1 billion.

And here you have it! The real reason they want this guy...is to sieze his money!!!!

1.26

Make it a FELONY to sell a gun to a felon.

If the girlfriend hadn't already reported the gun as "stolen".... ooops.... bye bye.

Every gun transfer sale should be registered. That would save lives and ensure the responsibilty and consequences of gun ownership...

Freeedoms come with responsibility and common sense. Abusing them, disregarding them, and defying them is reason enough to take those freedoms away.

The AK47 Khyber Pass Copy is a firearm manufactured by cottage gunsmiths in the Khyber Pass region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. They get their name from the Adam Khel Afridi, who live around the Khyber pass and were historically the most active arms manufacturers on the Frontier.

The area has long had a reputation for producing unlicensed, home-made copies of firearms using whatever materials are available - more often than not, railway rails, scrap motor vehicles and other scrap metal. The quality of such rifles varies widely, ranging from as good as a factory-produced example to dangerously poor.

Jessica-1170252

I vote option #1. Personal liberty is always preferential to living in a police state, not to mention, option #1 would be much more effective in actually reducing violence.

If government can take out Bin Laden in Pakistan, then taking this guy should be a piece of cake. Is it not worth the effort or maybe more willing to pay the 5 million?

Also, this would be an ideal situation for Obama to make use of the Drone since the out of control rate of murders in Chicago are probably directly related to the drugs.

Quite frankly, this should take priority over the gun issue which has become the number one issue of this administration other than the desire to spend more dollars.

RI Mom

Thanks for the laugh.

so this

Public Enemy No 1 lives in a mountain hideaway. Does this not elevate him to terrorist level? if mexico can't arrest him, flatten his ass with a drone

Great Story....right My ??? is who got the Quote for the last sentence were "Guzman" said...

"His time is coming," Guzman said. "I can't wait for that day."

You guys are missing the point of the story. Drugs are bad too! I laugh at all the times people wanted me to do drugs 'because it didn't hurt no one'. Drugs mess with your brain chemistry--making you lose your inhibitions toward self-serving behavior. That includes self-serving violence and abuse.

The drug trade systematically destroys communities. It spreads like religion among the youth--if you don't take it, you're ostracized. Eventually the trade becomes an industry and the traffickers become violent to people who don't pay up, to competitors, and to police. All the while people like Chapo here make millions. Tell me one more time that drugs are harmless, Dch-bags!

RI Mom....and again you're demonstrating your lack of knowledge on the subject. It is already a felony to sell a gun to a felon!!! Good grief. Also do you think that America is the only country making guns??? As another poster stated to you. Oh, and also keep in mind that our government just hand-walked thousands of guns across the border (Fast & Furious) to the drug cartels, to try and prove that "straw purchases" were responsible for the drug cartels getting guns. This has blown up in Holders face. Do you not pay attention to the news??? Do you not really educate yourself on the issues? Or do you simply rattle off the latest proganda dished out of the White House, riding Fiestlies & Bigotry's coattails.

The war on drugs is big business. The Gov't does not want it to end, it's job security. Plus, where would they get their dope?

Just as alcohol prohibition created Al Capone, drug prohibition has now created his Mexican version.

Legalize drugs and you end the violence. But then Chicago and every other city in America loses a major source of funding.

Always, follow the money.

Yep, bannning guns is really gonna keep them out of Drug Cartels hands.

Time for Mr. Obama to go to the Situation Room with his folks after he orders drones to fly in formation over the Western Mexican mountains looking for "Shorty".

Maybe there is going to be another NEW movie in the works on the horizon. Bollywood would love that.

BTW: legalizing "drugs" is not going to solve the "drug trafficking" problem. Matter of fact, the bad guys have already been reported to storm "residences" to get someones stash in States where Marijuana has been legalized.

Obama's chickens(Fast & Furious) are coming home to roost. Who needs drone strikes when you have liberal, democrat leadership? The progressive ghettos of America are like self cleaning ovens--it may take a little while but eventually all the crap gets turned to ashes.

It must be sad to be part of the dying republican ideology. But if you really do want to sit back and relax, GodBless, then don't worry, we'll take care of everything. We'll even give you healthcare and do our best to prevent you from being shot at gun rallies.

@ stratocumulus,

The drug trade systematically destroys communities. It spreads like religion among the youth--if you don't take it, you're ostracized. Eventually the trade becomes an industry and the traffickers become violent to people who don't pay up, to competitors, and to police. All the while people like Chapo here make millions.

This was exactly my point, if a major component of that illegal trade (90% of what the DEA did last year), hemp (which is not recognized by our government as a drug but as merely an illegal substance by the way) we would see a dramatic shift in who must deal with the cartels, gangs, and street dealers to acquire their recreational hemp. That would be a significant reduction in their customer base; people they intuitively try to get to take other more powerful and highly addictive drugs (as was apparently the case with you), which is their bread and butter so to speak. Furthermore, hemp smokers do not normally commit crimes unless the individual has a Psyche that is already predisposed to commiting crimes (Schafer Commision). In such instances, I would be willing to bet that the use of hemp would work to diminish that predisposition in most cases.

The bigger picture is that the illegal use of drugs is bad and that hemp has been miscalssified as such.

Notice how I did not have to resort to name calling in my post.

Well thank you for not name calling. I usually don't unless I'm giving tit-for-tat.

as was apparantly the case with you

Are you saying that I use drugs, or that I've been pressured to use drugs and forced to watch other people ruin their lives? the latter is true, although some people claim to use drugs recreationally without side effects--they'll say anything to justify their habit. I see your point about fully legalizing hemp to prevent the spread of illegal activity. I'm talking about marijuana mostly, which exerts pressure almost exactly like religions do.

If drugs were legal then these violent gangs would not be nearly as powerful. So thank law enforcement and the federal government for this problem.

No, thank druggies for this problem. It's like jeans--we buy them without realizing that they're made by indentured workers [i.e. slaves] in poor countries. If you're going to do drugs, take responsibility for once and see how destructive it can be. Drugs are bad for you and they hurt your ability to feel empathy. Legalize them and suddenly your culture becomes one of denial--suddenly kids start using without any sense of how destructive they are. Just look at all the excuses that legal smokers have built up for destroying their lungs and creating a bad environment for children--I don't have cancer yet...it helps calm my nerves...i'm more likely to die from processed foods.

Okay, well that last one isn't wrong. I know that people want their drugs and in the end they're willing to do anything to get them, but once in a while you should take a step back and see how harmful it is.

Matter of fact, the bad guys have already been reported to storm "residences" to get someones stash in States where Marijuana has been legalized.

As long as an illegal market remains in the U.S., illegal acts will continue.

Culheath...if no one else will do it, I will.

Thanks you for being the Newsvine Grammar Police today.

Say, do Newsvine Grammar Police carry guns, tasers, or both?

stratocumulus:

No, thank druggies for this problem.

No. You are completely WRONG!!!. We have drug prohibition and the drug war to thank for this problem.

Drugs have been around since the dawn of man. We didn't have these types of problems BEFORE prohibition, did we? NO!

You can blame the users all you want but just realize that drug use is here to stay and you will NEVER have a drug free society. The drug laws have done WAY more damage than all of drug use combined.

Drugs are bad for you and they hurt your ability to feel empathy.

You are making broad generalizations about drug users which shows you obviously don't have a clue as to what you are talking about. Stereotype much?

Legalize them and suddenly your culture becomes one of denial--suddenly kids start using without any sense of how destructive they are.

Do you realize (obviously not) with drugs being in the control of the black market drug dealers KIDS can easily obtain them? Drug dealers don't ask for I.D. This is just more fear mongering. If drugs were to be legalized on any level NO ONE WOULD ADVOCATE FOR MINORS TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE DRUGS! As with alcohol, the legal age would be 21 and up. Try and sink that into your brain.

Just look at all the excuses that legal smokers have built up for destroying their lungs and creating a bad environment for children

Again, more fear mongering from someone who has no clue. Do some research before coming on here and spreading your lies of hate and fear mongering. If someone destroys their lungs from smoking pot, where all the marijuana deaths from lungs being destroyed? Huh? Can you show me the evidence? No you can't because there isn't any evidence for people dying from smoking pot. Actually, marijuana has been discovered to INHIBIT cancer cell growth in the lungs. Look up the UCLA study.

Oh, and as far as the children go, gee, the drug war and prohibition have created such a wonderful environment for our children, huh? (sar)

I know that people want their drugs and in the end they're willing to do anything to get them, but once in a while you should take a step back and see how harmful it is.

What you need to do, and many other misguided people like yourself, is to take a step back and realize how HARMFUL the drug laws are to this country and it's citizens.

Prohibition has never worked and never will.

Hello folks, what's wrong, the alphabet security agencies not getting their cut? Ever since the Iran Contra drugs for arms scandal anyone paying attention knows the illicit drug industry is controlled by the CIA. Fast and Furious is merely a byproduct of the warring going on over control of this industry. If your a drug dealer or cartel and you get too big for your britches and do not cut in the controllers you are an enemy.

It's well known that our banks have been laundering drug money. The sheeple with their fragile sensibilities don't want to believe that our government and those of the world would be involved in such unlawful activity. Get over it, it's true! Enclosed is a snippet of Mr. Marshall's expose.

TheIntelHub – Andrew Gavin Marshall – The Global Banking ‘Super-Entity’ Drug Cartel: The “Free Market” Of Finance Capital – 29 October 2012

"Banking Cartel or Drug Cartel… or What’s the Difference?

In 2009, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that billions of dollars in drug money saved the major banks during the financial crisis, providing much-needed liquidity.

Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime stated that drug money was “the only liquid investment capital” available to banks on the brink of collapse, with roughly $325 billion in drug money absorbed by the financial system.

Without identifying specific countries or banks, Costa stated that, “Inter-bank loans were funded by money that originated from the drugs trade and other illegal activities… There were signs that some banks were rescued that way.”[8]

In 2010, Wachovia Bank (now owned by Wells Fargo) settled the largest action ever under the U.S. bank secrecy act, paying a fine of $50 million plus forfeiting $110 million of drug money, of which the bank laundered roughly $378.4 billion out of Mexico.

The federal prosecutor in the case stated, “Wachovia’s blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations.”

The fine that the bank paid for laundering hundreds of billions of dollars in drug money was less than 2% of the bank’s 2009 profit, and on the same week of the settlement, Wells Fargo’s stock actually went up.

The bank admitted in a statement of settlement that, “As early as 2004, Wachovia understood the risk” of holding such an account, but “despite these warnings, Wachovia remained in the business.”

The leading investigator into the money laundering operations, Martin Woods, based out of London, had discovered that Wachovia had received roughly six or seven thousand subpoenas for information about its Mexican operation from the federal government, of which Woods commented: “An absurd number.

So at what point does someone at the highest level not get the feeling that something is very, very wrong?” Woods had been hired by Wachovia’s London branch as a senior anti-money laundering officer in 2005, and when in 2007 an official investigation was opened into Wachovia’s Mexican operations, Woods was informed by the bank that he failed “to perform at an acceptable standard.”

In other words, he was actually doing his job. In regards to the settlement, Woods stated:

The regulatory authorities do not have to spend any more time on it, and they don’t have to push it as far as a criminal trial. They just issue criminal proceedings, and settle.

The law enforcement people do what they are supposed to do, but what’s the point? All those people dealing with all that money from drug-trafficking and murder, and no one goes to jail?[9]

As the former UN Office of Drugs and Crime czar Antonio Maria Costa said, “The connection between organized crime and financial institutions started in the late 1970s, early 1980s… when the mafia became globalized,” just like other major markets.

Martin Woods added that, “These are the proceeds of murder and misery in Mexico, and of drugs sold around the world,” yet no one went to jail, asking, “What does the settlement do to fight the cartels? Nothing – it doesn’t make the job of law enforcement easier and it encourages the cartels and anyone who wants to make money by laundering their blood dollars. Where’s the risk? There is none.”

He added: “Is it in the interest of the American people to encourage both the drug cartels and the banks in this way? Is it in the interest of the Mexican people? It’s simple: if you don’t see the correlation between the money laundering by banks and the 30,000 people killed in Mexico, you’re missing the point.”

Woods, who now runs his own consultancy, told the Observer in 2011 that, “New York and London… have become the world’s two biggest laundries of criminal and drug money, and offshore tax havens. Not the Cayman Islands, not the Isle of Man or Jersey. The big laundering is right through the City of London and Wall Street.”[10]

Just as the “too big to fail” program acts as an insurance policy for the big banks to engage in constant criminal activity, taking ever-larger financial risks with the guarantee that they will be bailed out, the settlements and lack of criminal prosecutions for banks laundering drug money provides the incentive to continue laundering hundreds of billions in drug money, because so long as the fine is smaller than the profit accrued from such a practice, it comes down to a simple cost-benefit analysis: if the cost of laundering drug money is less than the benefit, continue with the policy.

The same cost-benefit analysis goes for all forms of criminal activity by banks and corporations, whether bribery, fraud, or violating environmental, labour and other regulations. So long as the penalty is less than the profit, the problem continues.

An article in the Observer from July of 2012 referred to global banks as “the financial services wing of the drug cartels,” noting that HSBC, Britain’s biggest bank, had been called before the U.S. Senate to testify about laundering drug money from Mexican cartels, holding one “suspicious account” for four years on behalf of the largest drug cartel in the world, the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico.[11]

In fact, a multi-year investigation into HSBC revealed that the bank was not only a major international drug money-laundering conduit, but also laundered money for clients with ties to terrorism.

In July of 2012, as the Senate was publicly investigating HSBC, Antonio Maria Costa stated, “Today I cannot think of one bank in the world that has not been penetrated by mafia money.”

The global drug trade is estimated to be worth roughly $380 billion annually, with most of the money made in the consumer markets of North America and Europe. Using the example of the $35 billion per year cocaine market in the United States, only about 1.5% of these profits make their way to the coca-leaf producers (mostly poor peasants) in South America (who became the target of our bombing and chemical warfare campaigns in the “war on drugs”), while the international traffickers get roughly 13% of the profits, with the remaining 85% earned by the distributors in the U.S. HSBC was accused of laundering the profits of the distributors.[12]

The U.S. Senate report concluded that HSBC had exposed the U.S. financial system to “a wide array of money laundering, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing,” including billions in “proceeds from illegal drug sales in the United States.”

HSBC acknowledged, in an official statement, that, “in the past, we have sometimes failed to meet the standards that regulators and customers expect.”

Among those “standards” that HSBC “sometimes failed to meet,” according to the Senate investigation, were financing provided to banks in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh which were tied to terrorist organizations, while the bank’s regulator failed to take a single enforcement action against HSBC.[13]

Among the terrorist organizations which potentially received financial assistance from HSBC through Saudi banks was al-Qaeda. HSBC put aside $700 million to cover any potential fines for such activities, which is not uncommon for banks to do.

Banks like ABN Amro, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Lloyds and ING had all reached major settlements for admitting to facilitating transactions and engaging in money laundering for clients in Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar and Sudan.[14]

As executives from HSBC appeared in the U.S. Senate, the bank’s head of compliance since 2002, David Bagley, resigned as he testified before the committee, commenting, “Despite the best efforts and intentions of many dedicated professionals, HSBC has fallen short of our own expectations and the expectations of our regulators.”[15]

As Ed Vulliamy reported in the Observer, in May of 2012, a poor black man named Edward Dorsey Sr. was convicted of peddling 5.5 grams of crack cocaine in Washington D.C. and was given 10 years in jail.

Meanwhile, just across the river from where Dorsey had committed his crime, executives from HSBC admitted before the U.S. Senate that they laundered billions in drug money, just as Wachovia had admitted to the previous year, with no one going to prison.[16]

The lesson from this is clear: if you are poor, black, and are caught with a couple grams of crack-cocaine, you can expect to go to prison for several years (or in this case, a decade); but if you are rich, white, own a bank, and are caught laundering billions of dollars (or hundreds of billions of dollars) in drug money, you will be fined (but not enough to make such practices unprofitable), and may have to resign. Too big to fail is simply another way of saying “too big to jail.”

Of course, it’s not fair to put all the blame for international drug money-laundering on the shoulders of HSBC and Wachovia, as Bloombergreported, Mexican drug cartels also funneled money through the Bank of America and even the banking branch of American Express, Banco Santander, and Citigroup.[17]

Even the FBI has accused Bank of America of laundering Mexican drug cartel funds.[18] But it’s not just drug money that banks launder; all sorts of illicit funds are laundered through major banks, many of which have been fined or are now being investigated for their criminal activities, including JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Credit Suisse, Lloyds, Barclays, ING, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, among others.[19]

Another major Swiss bank, UBS, has been very consistent in committing fraud and engaging in various conspiracies, a great deal of which was committed against Americans, though the bank was given “conditional immunity” from the U.S. Department of Justice.[20]"

We're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy!

TrustVerify:

Thanks for all your time and effort explaining the true story, behind the propagandized stories.

It's a shame so many of the population rely on news media and government information alone to base their opinions. They just don't seem to ever realize how they're being manipulated.

What a great big f-ing shock!

RI Mom-What part of this story does Wayne LaPierre NOT GET about how this enables gun trafficking......from areas with limited universal background checks

So, mom, how often do you have to polish your glass belly-button? This statement makes it very apparent that you've got your head planted very deeply up your backside. You really think that this dirtbag is going to register for weapons or not evade a background check?

Maybe he got some of his guns from DOJ Fast and Furious. How about adressing the drug culture among the youth rather than want to legalize it. I will keep my guns and bible close by just in case i need either. Thank you libs for making chi town such a safe place to live.

Hay RI MOM tell you koolaid drinkers to stop buying drugs.

and Obama let the guns in to Mexico under fast and furious

Drugs mess with your brain chemistry--making you lose your inhibitions toward self-serving behavior

That explains why I had so much fun in the 80's!

With all the military might america has........ he has been laughing at you all the way to the Bank with truck loads and and truck load of benjamin franklins. All the AWAC's, F-22's, F-35's, seal teams 3-10 can't hang with his dude and he's only 5'2" WOW. 5 million Dollars is that dead or alive or is this just another ploy for information/misinformation/disinformation, just like the bin laden reward. Obviously that has not been enought for anyone to nail him. Mexicains are laughing like "well you know what" most importantly is he is right Under your nose , Just like Mr. Dorner.....................

So Prohibition created guys like Capone and their gangs in the 20's and 30's, gun bans and a war on drugs created guys like Guzman and their cartels today. It's true! History repeats its self.

Besides, big pharmaceutical companies, hostipals and doctors are the biggest drug pushers today. The government doesn't give two sh!ts if you're on drugs. In fact, they want everyone on drugs. Just not the ones they and their friends can't make a profit off of.

One little know fact by RI Mom.......it's already a felony to give or sell a gun to a felon in this entire country. I wish you knew half as much as you wished you knew. The problem is your in your own little world and not the real one.

In Illinois or Chicago like the story is about. There are very very strict rules about buying guns there. The real problem is that NO criminal actually cares about ANY laws there or where you live. And guess what, in Illinois there are waiting periods too......you can't buy a gun and shoot your wife that afternoon with it. The real story is that no matter what laws get passed or have been past, the CRIMINALS will still get guns. Just look at our this President has sent Thousands of them to the drug cartels just like this scum bag. They did it so they can track them...right! They found them every time someone gets killed there and even in the states too. So tell me if it's a felony to sell guns to a felon then when will they arrest those that allowed the guns into the hands of the cartels, to kill not just the people of Mexico but, Americans too. We will probably never know the truth though.....executive privilege and all...hmmmmmm!

oneditryrat- correct the same people saying drugs should be illegal will tell you prohibition of alcohol did not work,yet fail to accept the fact that this prohibition of drugs is what created this infrastucture of traffic and sales(big money all around) everyone makes good money and will "do what it takes" to keep making it. Trust you are right too, again there is BIG MONEY IN PROHIBITION. All the agencies in this gov, don't want this "drug war" to ever end they're making too much money. Big global business.

The banks do really well laundering drug money, and the DOJ gives them passes because they're afraid prosecuting the individuals responsible will harm the economy.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/gangster-bankers-too-big-to-jail-20130214

"WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?" (hillary clinton, 2013.)

My thoughts exactly, Jarhead!

Drone'em.

Better yet, time to legalize drugs and end the drug war industry.

Aim at the wallet, not the castle.

Yea, just like Al Capone days. Prohibition does NOT work. Legalize and tax. Let the low lifes ruin their own lives and OD, the rest of us can prosper in the wake.

culheath & Ryan O'L:

I must agree with your call for legalization and taxation of drugs; common sense suggests that not even the most addicted person would prefer resorting to crime when, instead, that person could obtain the desired drugs from a stable, controlled source.

However, the truth seems to be that those who profit greatly from the drug trade don't want their trade to be taken away. Perhaps we should ask our public officials if what I have said is true; they might agree.

what if we tried a 'WAR ON DRUGS!'??? We could stop this in a week!

I have an idea to run by everyone here, what if we throw the President a bone that could begin to put an end to this whole mess.

A 2013 Emancipation Proclamation; proclaiming that the Attorney General of the United States, the sole authoritative power over how substances or drugs are scheduled under the Controlled substance Act of 1970 (CSA), is hereby instructed to remove hemp (slang: marijuana), active ingredient THC, entirely from the CSA, and then reassign hemp to the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) regulatory agency, rename it Fire Arms, Alcohol, Hemp, and Tobacco (FAHT). In doing so, he would essentially free millions of Americans from federal persecution; whereas it was estimated that some 46% of all Americans (approximately 150 million) had tried hemp at least once in their life; essentially making each of them each federal criminals under the present day law (NIDA Marijuana drug facts). In comparison, Lincoln freed a mere 3 million slaves in his Proclamation that ended our American Civil War in 1863.

A win-win! "Free, free, free at last!" MLK

Exactly... this guy's a poster child candidate for a drone strike.

Future drug legalization is an altogether separate debate, and not one we should even think about having before the cartels are militarily defeated. These narcoterrorists have killed tens of thousands, directly or indirectly. They need to be defeated and obliterated before we can even begin to talk about what the future of drug regulation will be. There must be no negotiated with narcoterrorists... it's simple. Wipe them out.

I am an old conservative that has lots of guns. "more than I need but not as many as I want" but this article isn't about that, it is about the "drug war". If it is legalized I am not going to smoke, been there did that in teh 60s and 70s. I have voted for the president twice/ said I am a conservative, not a tea party racist or christian taliban, anyway the war on drugs is and has always been a failure. The USA has one million more people in prison than China. If Chapo Guzman didn't exist the DEA would have to invent him just to keep that funding coming. There will be problems but not like now. RI Mom and the other people wanting gun control, how you call people names that don't agree with you, well it reminds me of the christian/taliban or tea party. Extremism from the right or the left is pretty similar.

Looks to me like he has a definite link to Al qaeda. Why I think he's their Mexican man in charge. Release the drones!!

"His time is coming," Guzman said. "I can't wait for that day."

We can't even write a proper article about him... we're going to "catch" him???

Looks to me like he has a definite link to Al qaeda. Why I think he's their Mexican man in charge. Release the drones!!

On the contrary, Sinaloa is probably the only thing keeping terrorists from flooding through our open back door. It's highly likely that the US has a deal with Guzman to not interfere with his operation and in return he serves as our unofficial police force in the Mexican jungles.

Think about it. Nothing but the cartel could have kept terrorists from setting up outposts in the jungles of Mexico... certainly, the inept Mexican army would have been no deterrent. We have heard many stories of the antics of the other cartels but have had no word of civilian deaths or other atrocities by the Sinaloa.

Remember: It was'nt the C.I.A. or the F.B.I that brought down Capone-it was the I.R.S.! (Now thats a goverment agency NO ONE wants to tangle with!!!!)

"His time is coming," Guzman said. "I can't wait for that day."

Should Riley be inserted where Guzman said or was Guzman quoted as saying Riley's time is coming?

The Sinaloa cartel is the one who has heads rolling and dismembered bodies all over the border. The Mexican gangs affiliated to them are raping and killing just for fun, even tourists by Acapulco and all over. And doesn't look like the Mexican government is doing much of anything about it. While Capone was responsible for such a "cruel massacre" of seven at one time, comparing him with this guy is ridiculous.

Blackbird,

Should Riley be inserted where Guzman said or was Guzman quoted as saying Riley's time is coming?

You're right, also "Chapo" means shorty maybe in Mexico, but is not a Spanish word.

I guess this passes for "chicago pride" nowadays.

lilrocks, agreed. Capone has nothing on this guy. This man probably has 20,000-30,000 dead bodies to attributable to his name in Mexico alone, not to mention all of the victims of his gang distribution networks in the US. Make no mistake, Guzman and his ilk are waging war, not just committing crime. This isn't something a little law enforcement and some regulatory reforms will fix.

Peace322 even the Government! Reform loopholes? Loopholes there are no Loopholes from the IRS inquisition!

Message to Obama: Time to drone strike this dirtbag!

He lives in Mexico, it shouldn't be Obama's decision.

lilirocks

The Sinaloa cartel is the one who has heads rolling and dismembered bodies all over the border.

No, that was the Zetas and the other lesser cartels. The Sinaloa have kept themselves out of the carnage that has littered Mexico the last five years.

@ Satanick

Looks like there is no problem with violating Pakistans airspace

So um, only 5 mil for the guy, that has about 1 billion worth? If anyone was in it for the money to capture this guy, they would be quickly turned with his wealth. Just saying.

bubba: I once foolishly called the I.R.S. with a question that apparently no one could answer-lol!

@ Satanick

Looks like there is no problem with violating Pakistans airspace

I have a problem with it.

Let's just make the cartel people citizens- problem solved

CaliforniaFirst:

Future drug legalization is an altogether separate debate, and not one we should even think about having before the cartels are militarily defeated. These narcoterrorists have killed tens of thousands, directly or indirectly. They need to be defeated and obliterated before we can even begin to talk about what the future of drug regulation will be. There must be no negotiated with narcoterrorists... it's simple. Wipe them out.

The problem with your proposed solution is that you can't wipe them all out. You can cut the head off the snake but this snake magically grows back another head.

As long as drugs remain illegal there will be a black market to fulfill the need/want for drugs.

I agree we need to try and wipe out the drug cartels but a sure fire way of hitting them where it counts is in the wallet. Legalizing pot alone would take away 60% of their profits from the illegal drug trade.

I'm not quite sure why you think we have to eradicate the drug cartels before talking of legalizing drugs, especially pot. I think to address this major problem of crime in our cities and the illegal drug trade it's going to take an assault on ALL fronts especially since it has become so out of hand for so long.

Yeah. Prohibition has done such a wonderful job. (sar)

Public enemy #1 is in the WH

Hello folks, what's wrong, the alphabet security agencies not getting their cut? Ever since the Iran Contra drugs for arms scandal anyone paying attention knows the illicit drug industry is controlled by the CIA. Fast and Furious is merely a byproduct of the warring going on over control of this industry. If your a drug dealer or cartel and you get too big for your britches and do not cut in the controllers you are an enemy.

It's well known that our banks have been laundering drug money. Wells Fargo recently got busted again. The sheeple with their fragile sensibilities don't want to believe that our government and those of the world would be involved in such unlawful activity. Get over it, it's true! Enclosed is a snippet of Mr. Marshall's expose.

TheIntelHub – Andrew Gavin Marshall – The Global Banking ‘Super-Entity’ Drug Cartel: The “Free Market” Of Finance Capital – 29 October 2012

"Banking Cartel or Drug Cartel… or What’s the Difference?

In 2009, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that billions of dollars in drug money saved the major banks during the financial crisis, providing much-needed liquidity.

Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime stated that drug money was “the only liquid investment capital” available to banks on the brink of collapse, with roughly $325 billion in drug money absorbed by the financial system.

Without identifying specific countries or banks, Costa stated that, “Inter-bank loans were funded by money that originated from the drugs trade and other illegal activities… There were signs that some banks were rescued that way.”[8]

In 2010, Wachovia Bank (now owned by Wells Fargo) settled the largest action ever under the U.S. bank secrecy act, paying a fine of $50 million plus forfeiting $110 million of drug money, of which the bank laundered roughly $378.4 billion out of Mexico.

The federal prosecutor in the case stated, “Wachovia’s blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations.”

The fine that the bank paid for laundering hundreds of billions of dollars in drug money was less than 2% of the bank’s 2009 profit, and on the same week of the settlement, Wells Fargo’s stock actually went up.

The bank admitted in a statement of settlement that, “As early as 2004, Wachovia understood the risk” of holding such an account, but “despite these warnings, Wachovia remained in the business.”

The leading investigator into the money laundering operations, Martin Woods, based out of London, had discovered that Wachovia had received roughly six or seven thousand subpoenas for information about its Mexican operation from the federal government, of which Woods commented: “An absurd number.

So at what point does someone at the highest level not get the feeling that something is very, very wrong?” Woods had been hired by Wachovia’s London branch as a senior anti-money laundering officer in 2005, and when in 2007 an official investigation was opened into Wachovia’s Mexican operations, Woods was informed by the bank that he failed “to perform at an acceptable standard.”

In other words, he was actually doing his job. In regards to the settlement, Woods stated:

The regulatory authorities do not have to spend any more time on it, and they don’t have to push it as far as a criminal trial. They just issue criminal proceedings, and settle.

The law enforcement people do what they are supposed to do, but what’s the point? All those people dealing with all that money from drug-trafficking and murder, and no one goes to jail?[9]

As the former UN Office of Drugs and Crime czar Antonio Maria Costa said, “The connection between organized crime and financial institutions started in the late 1970s, early 1980s… when the mafia became globalized,” just like other major markets.

Martin Woods added that, “These are the proceeds of murder and misery in Mexico, and of drugs sold around the world,” yet no one went to jail, asking, “What does the settlement do to fight the cartels? Nothing – it doesn’t make the job of law enforcement easier and it encourages the cartels and anyone who wants to make money by laundering their blood dollars. Where’s the risk? There is none.”

He added: “Is it in the interest of the American people to encourage both the drug cartels and the banks in this way? Is it in the interest of the Mexican people? It’s simple: if you don’t see the correlation between the money laundering by banks and the 30,000 people killed in Mexico, you’re missing the point.”

Woods, who now runs his own consultancy, told the Observer in 2011 that, “New York and London… have become the world’s two biggest laundries of criminal and drug money, and offshore tax havens. Not the Cayman Islands, not the Isle of Man or Jersey. The big laundering is right through the City of London and Wall Street.”[10]

Just as the “too big to fail” program acts as an insurance policy for the big banks to engage in constant criminal activity, taking ever-larger financial risks with the guarantee that they will be bailed out, the settlements and lack of criminal prosecutions for banks laundering drug money provides the incentive to continue laundering hundreds of billions in drug money, because so long as the fine is smaller than the profit accrued from such a practice, it comes down to a simple cost-benefit analysis: if the cost of laundering drug money is less than the benefit, continue with the policy.

The same cost-benefit analysis goes for all forms of criminal activity by banks and corporations, whether bribery, fraud, or violating environmental, labour and other regulations. So long as the penalty is less than the profit, the problem continues.

An article in the Observer from July of 2012 referred to global banks as “the financial services wing of the drug cartels,” noting that HSBC, Britain’s biggest bank, had been called before the U.S. Senate to testify about laundering drug money from Mexican cartels, holding one “suspicious account” for four years on behalf of the largest drug cartel in the world, the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico.[11]

In fact, a multi-year investigation into HSBC revealed that the bank was not only a major international drug money-laundering conduit, but also laundered money for clients with ties to terrorism.

In July of 2012, as the Senate was publicly investigating HSBC, Antonio Maria Costa stated, “Today I cannot think of one bank in the world that has not been penetrated by mafia money.”

The global drug trade is estimated to be worth roughly $380 billion annually, with most of the money made in the consumer markets of North America and Europe. Using the example of the $35 billion per year cocaine market in the United States, only about 1.5% of these profits make their way to the coca-leaf producers (mostly poor peasants) in South America (who became the target of our bombing and chemical warfare campaigns in the “war on drugs”), while the international traffickers get roughly 13% of the profits, with the remaining 85% earned by the distributors in the U.S. HSBC was accused of laundering the profits of the distributors.[12]

The U.S. Senate report concluded that HSBC had exposed the U.S. financial system to “a wide array of money laundering, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing,” including billions in “proceeds from illegal drug sales in the United States.”

HSBC acknowledged, in an official statement, that, “in the past, we have sometimes failed to meet the standards that regulators and customers expect.”

Among those “standards” that HSBC “sometimes failed to meet,” according to the Senate investigation, were financing provided to banks in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh which were tied to terrorist organizations, while the bank’s regulator failed to take a single enforcement action against HSBC.[13]

Among the terrorist organizations which potentially received financial assistance from HSBC through Saudi banks was al-Qaeda. HSBC put aside $700 million to cover any potential fines for such activities, which is not uncommon for banks to do.

Banks like ABN Amro, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Lloyds and ING had all reached major settlements for admitting to facilitating transactions and engaging in money laundering for clients in Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar and Sudan.[14]

As executives from HSBC appeared in the U.S. Senate, the bank’s head of compliance since 2002, David Bagley, resigned as he testified before the committee, commenting, “Despite the best efforts and intentions of many dedicated professionals, HSBC has fallen short of our own expectations and the expectations of our regulators.”[15]

As Ed Vulliamy reported in the Observer, in May of 2012, a poor black man named Edward Dorsey Sr. was convicted of peddling 5.5 grams of crack cocaine in Washington D.C. and was given 10 years in jail.

Meanwhile, just across the river from where Dorsey had committed his crime, executives from HSBC admitted before the U.S. Senate that they laundered billions in drug money, just as Wachovia had admitted to the previous year, with no one going to prison.[16]

The lesson from this is clear: if you are poor, black, and are caught with a couple grams of crack-cocaine, you can expect to go to prison for several years (or in this case, a decade); but if you are rich, white, own a bank, and are caught laundering billions of dollars (or hundreds of billions of dollars) in drug money, you will be fined (but not enough to make such practices unprofitable), and may have to resign. Too big to fail is simply another way of saying “too big to jail.”

Of course, it’s not fair to put all the blame for international drug money-laundering on the shoulders of HSBC and Wachovia, as Bloombergreported, Mexican drug cartels also funneled money through the Bank of America and even the banking branch of American Express, Banco Santander, and Citigroup.[17]

Even the FBI has accused Bank of America of laundering Mexican drug cartel funds.[18] But it’s not just drug money that banks launder; all sorts of illicit funds are laundered through major banks, many of which have been fined or are now being investigated for their criminal activities, including JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Credit Suisse, Lloyds, Barclays, ING, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, among others.[19]

Another major Swiss bank, UBS, has been very consistent in committing fraud and engaging in various conspiracies, a great deal of which was committed against Americans, though the bank was given “conditional immunity” from the U.S. Department of Justice.[20]"

We're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy!

culheath

Better yet, time to legalize drugs and end the drug war industry.

Oh yeas because legalizing cocaine and heroin is such a great idea. Oh wait, you didn't realize that that was where he makes most of his money? Silly you, you forgot to check that part, didn't you?

El Chapo is very worthy of the title Public Enemy Number One. Understand something about Mexico: cartels like the Sinaloas and the Zetas are the ones who control the apparatus of government in that country. Any elected official who crosses them is guaranteed to be assassinated. The military and law enforcement are infested with cartel operators. The cartels have the best training and firepower, not to mention piles of money.

Another issue with the cartels is the number of operators they have in the US who enlist in the US military to gain access to training, weapons, and intelligence for the purpose of exporting it back to Mexico. These operators have no criminal record, no known gang affiliations, and no gang tattoos, which means they fly below radar and get in. The top military and tactical publications have covered this aspect of the cartels for years.

What you have in Mexico is government of the drug dealers, by the drug dealers, and for the drug dealers, where those drug dealers are using their influence to infiltrate their own operators into the US military to tighten the grip they have on their own country. El Chapo is not just a public enemy and menace, he's a legitimate national security threat.

We could easily catch this guy if we wanted to. They don't want to.

You could fight the war on drugs and end the war on drugs in probably a year or less. Start by identifying all The drug lords here, Mexico and points further south and blow them off the face of the earth. beef up the border with national guard and coast guard / military like most country's have on their borders. stiffen drug penalties here for the carriers - no plea deals for higher ups. make jail a place where no one wants to be - again like many foreign country's do. two / three in a cell - so what. you do not even need to drone just fly over or launch from anywhere you want. problem is there is TOO MUCH MONEY in drugs. until you get a Presdent and a government with the nuts to put a stop to it - it will continue. too many people in suits making money to look the other way - meanwhile our streets are getting more like that is Matamorus and points south and west. it is a shame we have to be dumbed down as a country - immagrating here used to mean you had to raise yourself to be an American - now sadly not so much.

screm.. not true I think. The Sinaloa declared war on the El Paso and Tijuana Cartels in 2006 and for the next 3 years waged the bloodiest part of the drug war to date. The Zetas are nasty, but the Sinaloa guys know how to wage war.

People wonder why these drug lords are so ruthless? A one billion dollar business. Not bad. Nobody is going to sit on their ass and let that be taken away from them. Nobody. He probably owns have the city of Chicago and the cops along with it.

@Chris from Yucaipa

culhealth is making a point, since this criminal makes his money from drugs, legalizing them automatically reduces their costs, allows for their taxation, regulates the quality, and eliminates the reasons for territorial gang wars, just as legalizing liquor did during prohibition. We could also reduce the cost of government by eliminating the high cost of the drug war. There will be other problems, but once they are legal the price drop to the same level as a can of corn.

I could win the war on drugs in 6 months...easily! But Americans don't have the stomach to truly wage war on drugs. Or gang violence. Or Driving Under the Influence.

The solution to all three is the same, and I could end all three problems within six (6) months. THE SAME 6 MONTHS!

Anyone caught dealing drugs, hang them...publicly...immediately! Guarantee guilt must be supported by video of some sort. (That is available more often that you might believe, and be even more so if needed.)

Anyone caught in ANY gang activity that results in death or drug dealing...hang them...immediately! Again, this is easily verified.

Anyone caught driving while under the influence, no death involved, mandatory blood test, comes back positive over 0.08...3 years prison, pink license for 5 years, pink/purple plates for 5 years, ignition lock blow requirement for 5 years. Caught driving without the lock, back to prison for 5 years.

Caught driving under the influence, and you killed someone, following blood test proving 0.08 intoxication, hang them immediately.

Within 6 months of these public hangings commencing...there will be an end to drug traffic, gang-banging and drunk driving. But the American public has no stomach, nor desire to end these social ills. They'd rather whine! (pass the cheese)

Capone and his gang thrived because of Prohibiton and Guzman and his cartel thrives because of gun bans and a war on drugs. If you don't learn from history you're doomed to repeat it.

You all have it wrong. If drugs were decriminalized like what Portugal has done the drug lords would be put out of business, Mexico would be a better country and we would see less drug use here in the United States. The question is this, why haven't drug laws been decriminalized? Someone getting a nice payoff in our corrupt government??? Money, money, money.

Mustang - Many Americans don't believe the war on drugs has been successful, quite the opposite often enough, or that is worth the money and effort. Not a lack of stomach. Americans are divided, as usual, and this is why nothing gets done on any level.

I like you're idea though. Want to hang the drug pushers? Start with the FDA and politicians, then move to big pharmaceutical companies, and finish with doctors.

Money, money, money.

Always, follow the money.

With all the military might america has........ he has been laughing at you all the way to the Bank with truck loads and and truck load of benjamin franklins. All the AWAC's, F-22's, F-35's, seal teams 3-10 can't hang with his dude and he's only 5'2" WOW. 5 million Dollars is that dead or alive or is this just another ploy for information/misinformation/disinformation, just like the bin laden reward. Obviously that has not been enought for anyone to nail him. Mexicains are laughing like "well you know what" most importantly is he is right Under your nose , Just like Mr. Dorner.....................

5 million dollars.... well that would get whoever captured him a nice funeral for themselves and their extended family.

Don't think people understand how ruthless these guys are, people like him practically have free reign in Mexico and even the US. Dude probably sends X-mas cards to half our politicians....

After doing my best at analyzing this issue, I would say the first thing to do is to track the money and find out exactly how much is going into the politicians pockets. There has to be a connection, or we wouldn't be seeing this kind of disease afflicting one of our major cities. How else do you explain the ineptitude of the politicians, How else do you explain the implementation of stupid gun laws which open up this city to the drug lords and the gangs. I say let the good old boys go on in and just clean house and exterminate all of the cockroaches who reside there and give the city back to the honest folks. This is one fine example as to why the utopic rhetoric of the liberal left will never work. It allows those who would subjugate you through fear and aggression the wide open opportunity to do so. Kill em all, is what I say.

The war on drugs is nothing more than a great cash cow for politicians and their benefactors. Unfortunately it is the honest citizens of this country who are paying the price for this obviously corrupt endeavor. If they really wanted to engage in a war on drugs, the war would already be over. This is nothing more than a ruse to make us believe they are attempting to do something about this issue, while they are lining their pockets with drug money. At least that is what I am perceiving from this. Who knows, I may be wrong, but I think not.

After doing my best at analyzing this issue, I would say the first thing to do is to track the money and find out exactly how much is going into the politicians pockets. There has to be a connection, or we wouldn't be seeing this kind of disease afflicting one of our major cities. How else do you explain the ineptitude of the politicians, How else do you explain the implementation of stupid gun laws which open up this city to the drug lords and the gangs. I say let the good old boys go on in and just clean house and exterminate all of the cockroaches who reside there and give the city back to the honest folks.

Hate to be the one to tell you this, but there are no "good old boys".

Interesting read:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/gangster-bankers-too-big-to-jail-20130214

There will be other problems, but once they are legal the price drop to the same level as a can of corn.

Using your analogy of the repeal of Prohibition, explain then why alcohol is still expensive.

He is hiding in a mountain in Mexico; now you know where he is; where are my 5 millions?

Using your analogy of the repeal of Prohibition, explain then why alcohol is still expensive.

Inflation and high tax rates.

Anyone caught dealing drugs, hang them...publicly...immediately! Guarantee guilt must be supported by video of some sort.
Anyone caught in ANY gang activity that results in death or drug dealing...hang them...immediately! Again, this is easily verified.
Caught driving under the influence, and you killed someone, following blood test proving 0.08 intoxication, hang them immediately.

Your whole plan is unconstitutional. Those are cruel and unusual punishments because they are punishments that are severe and are obviously inflicted in a wholly arbitrary fashion. The solution to drugs is less government, not more of it!

Actually, Mexico is in the trouble it is in because they have tighter gun controls than anywhere else on this side of the planet. Citizens are not allowed to have ANY guns, yet the cartels always seem to ignore the laws, just like the criminals in Chicago. Remember that tired old saying, "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." It's true.

Yeah, they ignore those gun laws, particularly because they buy tons of those guns here in the United States. Maybe Mexico's gun laws would work if we didn't sell a whole bunch only to criminals

Guess that doesn't work in Mexico, like it doesn't in Chicago, either.

Can you imagine what Chicago would be like if there weren't stiff gun laws?

But the heavy proliferation of illegal guns and the attendant death rate is a peripheral effect of the drug and turf war and poverty mix. As far as the gun component goes, we need universal background checks, no exceptions and life sentences for straw purchases.

If you can't find love and respect from family or society, you'll join a gang and find it there.

It's all of piece.

"His time is coming," Guzman said. "I can't wait for that day." You mean 'Riley said'. Had to re-read the article to make sure I didn't miss something.

so funny... its the machismo dialog

article closes with guzman's threat to take out riley "I can't wait for that day."

These guys need to go face-to-face with drone strikes.. or maybe bunker busters or tactical nukes. No doubt Guzman and his fellow dons are highly protected, both by a literal army of fighters and by fortifications. They also have effective sovereignty over entire regions of Mexico. Merely giving people guns won't defeat this bunch. You need heavy weaponry.. and an army to deliver 'em. First you have to destroy their supply and communications lines, then you move into kill the leaders.. just like we're doing to AQ.

California First
You defeat them by cutting off their money supply by legalizing drugs, not by engaging in an all out war against them.

"Maybe Mexico's gun laws would work if we didn't sell a whole bunch only to criminals"

Right cause the US is the only manufacturer of guns.................................................But what ever you are smoking it must be good.

Drone strikes! That's the answer. OK Obama, write an executive order making gangs terrorist. Enemies of the state. Then bring in the drones.

California, I'll agree with you that some type of military action is what it will take to smash the cartels, but I've already mentioned the problem: the cartels have been infiltrating their own operators into the US military for years. There's a real risk that they will be tipped off to any US military action. A Mexican version of Blackhawk Down would be high on the list of Washington's nightmare scenarios. If you're going to do something, you probably have to go with private tactical operator companies. You probably won't have much in the plausible deniability department, but you are taking that cartel infiltration risk off the table and you have the advantage of using people who can go in under vale tudo rules of engagement.

Get real people. This drug lord is not the problem. The laws are. Who makes the laws? The politicians and why won't they decriminalize? Because they are being paid off. So we send drug squads after drugs that are indirectly being approved by our great politicians. Read up on drugs in Portugal. They have a system that works and is practical.

"Maybe Mexico's gun laws would work if we didn't sell a whole bunch only to criminals"

Comments like that only prove further you have absolutely no idea what goes on in the real world. Yes they buy guns in the US... that must be why they smuggle fully automatic AK-47s, SKF-19s, ect. into this country at cheaper prices then a legal semi-auto AR-15 "Assault Rifle". When you have billions like this guy you can get weapons anywhere in the world.

But thats ok... keep sipping the kool aid.

Frugal(retard)Democrat:

Where the f*** you get we sell guns to only criminals? your handler says it all !!

We only sell guns to the criminals in MEXICO, dick. They have strict gun control laws there, which means there would be fewer guns in the hands of criminals if WE(USA) didn't sell guns to them.

Sorry if you can't follow a simple train of thought.

And you know what? You're right, it wouldnt solve all of their gun problems if they got 0 from the United States. However, there would be far fewer and they would be more expensive

I am also not saying we should "confiscate all dem gunz hurr" but a little bit of logical gun control would go pretty far.

There are limits on free speech, why not guns?

GM Scooter. Or he could run for political office.

Al Capone was not frowned upon by the public, because he gave back to the community.

The cops were as crooked as the criminals.

Take your corn fed pinhead elsewhere, or actually learn something about Chicago.

Learn something about Chicago? Hell, I'll write you a book on Chicago:

Criminals.

The end.

I am a little shocked by the northern Democrat perspective on border security when they have this kind of response to a Mexican criminal who's trafficing drugs and murder into our country. I would have thought these people would find a way to qualify him under the Dream Act-like executive orders of Obama. I guess they don't like what's coming accross the border when it lands in their back yard.

To be honest the dude looks like any other Chicago homeless dude.

Satanick is closer to the truth. If they allowed drugs the whole of Mexico would be out of the illegal drug business. People will always get drugs and if they are forbidden, then they are even more "fun". Once they are legal, it is like beer, "oh I can have a beer anytime I want. With pot," oh, gee, this is illegal. It must be really fun" is the human nature part.

Great minds think alike and apparently at the same time.

The Ill. Gov. could fill J. Jacksons jr. seat, perfect spot.

The mayors office next time that is why the present mayor is in such a rage.

Brainwashed minds are more likely to come to the same conclusion.

You think alike because you wash your brains with the same @!$%#.

Great minds think independently.

Weak and old and doesn't play anymore. You need need new material.

Hint: Obama won, you lost. Work from there.

If Obama and supporters can continue to blame Bush over 4 years after his departure, then surely making fun of Chicago criminal politicians is still fair game?

"His time is coming," Guzman said. "I can't wait for that day."

That's a pretty strong finish to the story, Guzman...who proofreads this rag?

culheath is so cul. That pic looks like a drunk that can barely stand. Oh, and Obama did not win, the race card did.

"Oh, and Obama did not win, the race card did."

Hmmm...........might want to check that one again buddy...........Last time I checked the census, whites were still the majority. But what ever floats your boat. Unless you're saying half of whites are racist. Not so in the middle are we?

@in the middle, "the race card" won? I would ask you to elaborate but something tells me that your logic will make my head hurt. It certainly looks like PRESIDENT Obama won. He is the president. Is he not?

@Culheath

"Weak and old and doesn't play anymore. You need need new material.

Hint: Obama won, you lost. Work from there."

Wait XD Shooter ran for president??

Correct term would be Obama won, Romney lost... which even has less significance to the OP since it hasnt been confirmed or denied that he was in fact a Romney supporter. But thats how it is with your type, if you dont support a child killer in office you are automatically branded a right wing, gun-toting, bible thumping, neo-con.

GANGS get guns from pass-through illegal sales.... not confirmed by gun control checks.

MNJL170

RI Mom

Do you really think any of the vicious criminals mentioned here would go through legal channels to get guns?

It's completely irrelevant if criminals will acquire their guns illegally. What matters is how many guns are even available illegally and universal background checks and stopping straw purchases will help to dry up the source.

Gun traffic will still flow, just not as a flood. It's akin to putting a tap or valve on the pipe.

RI Mom- Yes, so a felon has his girlfriend legally buy his gun. What law will change that? It's already illegal for her to do that. Here in IL all transfers (sales from dealer or individual) require a FOID card and background check that he obviously wouldn't pass. That is the LEGAL requirement. Since these people are criminals, they won't do that. She will simply hand him the gun and if, by chance, it is ever recovered by the police and comes back to her - she'll say that it must have been stolen. And we all know they are not going to use scarce judicial resources to throw the book at her. At MOST she would get a few months in county - so what law do you want that you think the criminals will actually obey??

Can you fast and Furious? How about DOJ contribution to guns on the street.

The NRA lost its safety credential as soon as it became the PR dept for the manufacturers. Even NRA members are rapidly becoming aware of this. La Pierre is merely an opportunist and lobbyist.

@ culheath

So is the ACLU, NAACP, KKK, AARP. Big effin deal

There not related, Jouis is puerto rician, yeah just because he was the same last name, doesnt mean they are related. Their not related at all.

Louis has admitted in interviews that he is related.

Right, much more helpful to let unlicensed, untrained drivers roll around the city streets.

And what is needed to vote, and apply for tons of govt assistance?...oh yeah....a state issued I.D. Plus when they move they can simply trade it for whatever state they are in so now they are documented illegal aliens.

Oddly enough, he would not be required to show identification, and we can't ask about his nationality, so he could slip past many traffic stops with no danger of being captured....our laws are so backwards.

How do these people get hired by MSNBC. Just poor writing! If the US wanted this guy or the Mexicans they would get him. He probable just scares them and thus stays free!

If the US wanted this guy or the Mexicans they would get him. He probable just scares them and thus stays free!

Puhleeze...people on both sides of the border and both sides of the drug war game are making huge bucks off his enterprise...and that is why he remains free.

Man, not everything is s conspiracy out of an action movie.

It's interesting that it's always the moralists and their banning this and/or that who end up causing the most immorality.

ban guns and create a black-market demand for them, then act surprised when the exact same thing happens again.

So are you saying the inverse would be better...make all guns legal and the problem will go away?

Dollars to donuts you allow the law abiding folks in Chicago to legally carry you will see our crime go down. Everyone here is a sitting duck and the criminals know that. Ever few weeks you hear of a carjacking or robbery being stopped by... wait for it... an off duty officer with a gun because the criminal picked the wrong person.

If the criminals had to be concerned about their victims fighting back - they wouldn't take the chance. The thugs aren't all that tough, they are just opportunistic. They see someone walking down the street, no one else around, they will pull a strong arm robbery because hey - of course that guy in Dockers isn't going to fight back.

Do what Tuscon did engage in a zero tolerance for gangs. Arm the public and put a bounty on his head. let us see how long these gang bangers last When i was living in tuson about 20 years ago to old mesican sheep herders from Mescalia took out the biggest leader with buffalo guns (54 cal) after he had their necices killed and made mincemeat of his gangs. problem solved.

Tom:

I agree with your post except:

Discriminate against drug users with drug tests.

Don't we have enough history of discrimination in this country as it is?

Why would you want to discriminate against drug users anyway?

You would be affecting a very large portion of the American population, especially alcohol drinkers (alcohol is a drug).

i believe that stuff is sold to big pharma companies for pain killers your doctors supply. Its not some big conspiracy that people think it is.

super x The people of Afghanistan have been growing poppies forever. Its nothing new. Guess what its not going to stop. Hate to inform you of that.

I dont smoke Marijuana but i would have to agree at least the federal goverment needs to make it a equivalent to a speeding ticket. Or use it as a source for tax revenue.

hakstarr:

...at least the federal goverment needs to make it a equivalent to a speeding ticket. Or use it as a source for tax revenue.

Speeding ticket: no. Make pot legal and regulated like alcohol.

Tax revenue: a resounding yes!

i think we need to get chicago suburb PD's in on this too