Cocaine submarines

[Roadburner440]

You guys are welcome for the pic's. Is my pleasure. To me going out to sea and doing what I get paid to do is the life. Is a lot of long hours, and hard work but I don't think there is anyplace else I would rather be. From my own personal experience while it is on both sides of the Panama Canal, it seems to be way more prevalent on the Pacific side. It is interesting that these countries are finally starting to band together to shut down these operations, but I think it is to big of a draw money wise for them to get out. Rumors are that a lot of these guys in the boats doing the actual running are people that have excessive debt to these drug lords, and that they get forced into it to repay the debts/keep their family safe from harm. I really enjoyed the documentary on the boats though. Have never seen the inside of one. I see they had a few cuts of FLIR video in there to of them throwing the bales over the side and running. It really is incredible how fast those go-fasts are. Our pilots have clocked them in some cases (and you are talking with several tons of drugs) going over 30 knots. I guess it goes to show if you cram enough outboard motors on anything you can make it rediculously fast. I bet that ride is awful though. It was bad enough in some sea conditions being on the frigate. I can only imagine on one of those little boats weighing a couple tons must be thrashed about during bad sea states.

 

[Brian_Gladden]

what was the tom clancy book where they went after the columbian drug runners? that was a cool book.

Clear and Present Danger.... I've read them all and it is one of my favorites. Number two would probably be "The Bear and the Dragon"


Brian

 

[Ken Stallings]

Roadburner,....thanks for posting the photos. Now,....if only the dumb Gringos stopped pushing this stuff up their noses......

Ain't that the pure truth!

In my view, the best series of ads that could be run on TV would be those who show people shooting drugs and then cut to all the goons and terrorists in the world who finance their evil through its sales!

Ken

 

[Roadburner440]

Well they do show it on t.v. Mr. Stallings. Is called Intervention, Cops, and the "Worlds Dumbest" series. They just don't show how all the money funds terrorism, and illegal groups. I think if the news channels quit talking about celebrity drama though that the masses would quit watching anyway, so that is why they keep running that junk in the news repeatidly. I predominantly watch Fox News, and even that barely scratches the surface of a lot. So talk radio news it is for me, but to a lot of people that is for old fogies. I personally think the quickest way to get people to stop doing drugs is just to make it all legal.. I used to smoke and drink (both underage) then when I hit the age of each it suddenly became no more fun, and I magically quit both. At first I think there would be a flock of people doing it just because, but that would quickly fall off. There's a whole host of other issues that go along with that though, and that delves into politics which I will leave off at. Just to many factors involved to say what will/won't fix it. I just know that prohibition isn't panning out very well, and causing us to spend billions of dollars to slow down a tiny percentage of the the total business. Cause when these guys lose a whole boat of this stuff it is obviously a drop in the bucket. They expect it to happen, and plan accordingly. For all the searching we do on boats, and the little we actually are able to find and seize I am sure over 90% is making it to its final destination.

 

[Ken Stallings]

Well they do show it on t.v. Mr. Stallings. Is called Intervention, Cops, and the "Worlds Dumbest" series. They just don't show how all the money funds terrorism, and illegal groups. I think if the news channels quit talking about celebrity drama though that the masses would quit watching anyway, so that is why they keep running that junk in the news repeatidly. I predominantly watch Fox News, and even that barely scratches the surface of a lot. So talk radio news it is for me, but to a lot of people that is for old fogies. I personally think the quickest way to get people to stop doing drugs is just to make it all legal.. I used to smoke and drink (both underage) then when I hit the age of each it suddenly became no more fun, and I magically quit both. At first I think there would be a flock of people doing it just because, but that would quickly fall off. There's a whole host of other issues that go along with that though, and that delves into politics which I will leave off at. Just to many factors involved to say what will/won't fix it. I just know that prohibition isn't panning out very well, and causing us to spend billions of dollars to slow down a tiny percentage of the the total business. Cause when these guys lose a whole boat of this stuff it is obviously a drop in the bucket. They expect it to happen, and plan accordingly. For all the searching we do on boats, and the little we actually are able to find and seize I am sure over 90% is making it to its final destination.

Unfortunately, history does not pan that out. I know that Switzerland is clamping down the laws against drug use because they realized their efforts at liberalizing the use laws in fact created a massive epidemic of drug addiction. In the United States, drug use was largely unregulated during the 18th and 19th centuries and the addictions became widespread, especially in certain regions of the country.

I agree that the primary focus must be upon reducing consumption, but I believe that goal can be accomplished through education and primarily by removing the chic label from the useage. Frankly, people need to be reminded that only losers use drugs.

One of the great myths is that drug use only hurts the individual. God, if only that were so! Beyond hurting families and the individual, it most certainly harms society. By financing drug empires, it can also harm an entire planet, and without question as it threatens to destroy Mexico, the drug use problem simply must receive an increased emphasis of attention.

In short, shun it wherever it is found!

Ken

 

[cheezyflier]

In the United States, drug use was largely unregulated during the 18th and 19th centuries and the addictions became widespread, especially in certain regions of the country.



Ken

america's war on drugs didn't really come from this. the time period you speak of, the focus was on opium, brought here by the chinese who had the priveledge of building a good portion of our railroads. china's growth was heavily stunted because of opium addiction. it lasted all the way up into the early 1900's. sadly, their problem with opium largely came from trade with western europe, if i remember right.

america's war on drugs stems from the end to alchohol prohibition. with the huge numbers of jobs created in law enforcement and revenue collection came a rather healthy economic stimulus at a time when it was most welcome. as with all other forms of income, they were loathe to see it dry up when it was realized that prohibition wasn't working. just after this period, a decade of drought in america's breadbasket made the illegal mexican farm hands un popular. how to get rid of them? kill 2 birds with one stone. stigmatize marijuana use, keep law enforcement busy and drive out the illegals at the same time. this is what eventually became america's war on drugs. even then it wasn't really put into full swing until reagan made president in the 80's.

 

[tigisfat]

We all live in a cocaine submarine...a cocaine submarine...a cocaine submarine...

[YOUTUBE]82ignV9HIdQ[/YOUTUBE]




That was for you, roadburner!!

 

[wombat666]

america's war on drugs didn't really come from this. the time period you speak of, the focus was on opium, brought here by the chinese who had the priveledge of building a good portion of our railroads. china's growth was heavily stunted because of opium addiction. it lasted all the way up into the early 1900's. sadly, their problem with opium largely came from trade with western europe, if i remember right.

america's war on drugs stems from the end to alchohol prohibition. with the huge numbers of jobs created in law enforcement and revenue collection came a rather healthy economic stimulus at a time when it was most welcome. as with all other forms of income, they were loathe to see it dry up when it was realized that prohibition wasn't working. just after this period, a decade of drought in america's breadbasket made the illegal mexican farm hands un popular. how to get rid of them? kill 2 birds with one stone. stigmatize marijuana use, keep law enforcement busy and drive out the illegals at the same time. this is what eventually became america's war on drugs. even then it wasn't really put into full swing until reagan made president in the 80's.

It's not often mentioned but China and their Opium 'problem' was a result of the old British Empire and the East India Trading Company.
I can't be bothered looking up the details but the East India 'entrepreneurs' made massive profits out of Opium (grown in India and Afghanistan IIRC) in the 18th and 19th centuries, there were a series of 'Opium Wars' fought by the British in the latter part of the 19th century to eliminate the Chinese protesters (if I can use that term) who were concerned about the harm this business enterprise was causing the Chinese people.
And of course Britannia won each time.

 

[tigisfat]

It's not often mentioned but China and their Opium 'problem' was a result of the old British Empire and the East India Trading Company.
I can't be bothered looking up the details but the East India 'entrepreneurs' made massive profits out of Opium (grown in India and Afghanistan IIRC) in the 18th and 19th centuries, there were a series of 'Opium Wars' fought by the British in the latter part of the 19th century to eliminate the Chinese protesters (if I can use that term) who were concerned about the harm this business enterprise was causing the Chinese people.
And of course Britannia won each time.

So, they already had a plant and were using it....but the Brits are to blame because they bought and traded it?

 

[wombat666]

So, they already had a plant and were using it....but the Brits are to blame because they bought and traded it?

Read again please.
I looked up some of the details.

The Opium was grown in INDIA, at the time under British Rule and in reality governed by the EAST INDIA TRADING COMPANY.
India was known as the 'Jewel in the Crown of the Empire'.
In bald terms, the East India Company introduced Opium to China and made vast profits as a result.

Quote:In the eighteenth century, Britain had a huge trade deficit with Qing Dynasty China and so in 1773, the Company created a British monopoly on opium buying in Bengal. As opium trade was illegal in China, Company ships could not carry opium to China. So the opium produced in Bengal was sold in Calcutta on condition that it be sent to China.
Despite the Chinese ban on opium imports, reaffirmed in 1799, it was smuggled into China from Bengal by traffickers and agency houses (such as Jardine, Matheson and Company, Ltd.) averaging 900 tons a year. The proceeds from drug-runners at Lintin Island were paid into the Company’s factory at Canton and by 1825, most of the money needed to buy tea in China was raised by the illegal opium trade. In 1838, with opium smuggling approaching 1400 tons a year, the Chinese imposed a death penalty on opium smuggling and sent a new governor, Lin Zexu to curb smuggling. This finally resulted in the First Opium War, eventually leading to the British seizure of Hong Kong.:Unquote
I doubt if you know of Major-General Charles George Gordon, aka Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, who put down the Chinese in no uncertain manner during the Second Opium War.
As an aside, while the 'Company' remained the largest importer of Opium to China, the United States of America, post the 'War Between The States', followed close behind.

Not exactly a glorious piece of history and proof that money rules, then as now.

 

[Roadburner440]

That was a funny video tig, . I am unsure of the total history of drugs.A lot of the things we consider illegal drugs today were a part of medicine, or other rituals in many other cultures around the world. It is just a very complex problem with no easy solutions. To get rid of it you would have to destroy the profitability of it. The military doesn't by any means make money from doing anything. We just spend money. At some point that money will either be exhausted, or have to be increased. While these people make money on running drugs. I am unsure what it would take to break the profitability. Seeing as the cocaine comes from natural plants, and most of the labor used to make and traffic it is very low pay, or practically slave labor. I would say that is a pretty hefty task. I just wish that the gov would release the handcuffs from us, let us load up some torpedo's, and any of these submersible things we spot just take care of it then and there.... I can understand not doing that to the fishing boats, because they could be out there legitimately fishing. The submersibles though I do not think any are commercially made (although I have seen some people looking to make them for personal use like exploring reefs, etc), but you can pretty much assume what they are doing out there. Then just drop the torp on 'em and call it a day. This is why I am just a maintainer of aircraft, and not a decision maker tho, lol. I am sure working on the B-1B's you have probably said the same thing tho about some of your missions. At least the B-1B's have actually put bombs on target though.. can't count how many time I have loaded missles and other ordnance only to download it all again later. In fact I don't think an SH-60B has ever fired a missle/torpedo in war.. we just use the guns.

 

[Ken Stallings]

Read again please.
I looked up some of the details.

The Opium was grown in INDIA, at the time under British Rule and in reality governed by the EAST INDIA TRADING COMPANY.
India was known as the 'Jewel in the Crown of the Empire'.
In bald terms, the East India Company introduced Opium to China and made vast profits as a result.

Quote:In the eighteenth century, Britain had a huge trade deficit with Qing Dynasty China and so in 1773, the Company created a British monopoly on opium buying in Bengal. As opium trade was illegal in China, Company ships could not carry opium to China. So the opium produced in Bengal was sold in Calcutta on condition that it be sent to China.
Despite the Chinese ban on opium imports, reaffirmed in 1799, it was smuggled into China from Bengal by traffickers and agency houses (such as Jardine, Matheson and Company, Ltd.) averaging 900 tons a year. The proceeds from drug-runners at Lintin Island were paid into the Company’s factory at Canton and by 1825, most of the money needed to buy tea in China was raised by the illegal opium trade. In 1838, with opium smuggling approaching 1400 tons a year, the Chinese imposed a death penalty on opium smuggling and sent a new governor, Lin Zexu to curb smuggling. This finally resulted in the First Opium War, eventually leading to the British seizure of Hong Kong.:Unquote
I doubt if you know of Major-General Charles George Gordon, aka Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, who put down the Chinese in no uncertain manner during the Second Opium War.
As an aside, while the 'Company' remained the largest importer of Opium to China, the United States of America, post the 'War Between The States', followed close behind.

Not exactly a glorious piece of history and proof that money rules, then as now.

Nope, among the sadder and more sinister chapters in history frankly. It would be like us rightly trying to eradicate drug use killing our people, and some other nation fighting a war so they can force us to endure drug addicts.

I don't think we'd take too kindly to such an effort!

Ken