@MLClark Thank you. One has to wonder if the traffickers reach the age where they decide it's not worth the headache any more and decide to go legit, e.g. gold.
Hey, traffickers, one word -- crypto! 🤣
Sadly, the illegal mining trade is quite brutal too. Clan del Golfo staged what it called a "strike" a year back, taking some mining towns hostage for a few weeks when legal miners were advocating for safer working conditions and more state protection.
In the blended jungles of Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil, some groups also poison the waterways with runoff from their operations, and brutally enslave the local Indigenous. Suffice it to say... crypto would 100% be a step up!
@MLClark That is sad, but 'tis the way of the world ... Thank you for the insights.
@WordsmithFL
Cocaine is still the big trade! Followed by weed. I see heroine, morphine, and meth among street users, but fentanyl arrived with a bang last year in my city / region, and tons of news broadcasts and articles needed to explain it to locals.
Funny/sad aside, though: Many classic narcotraffickers have moved to gold and other mining because profits are better. Clan del Golfo claims that the drug trade is so bad that it needs to exploit migrants at the Darien Gap to make ends meet. 🎻