I've watched these and they are interesting but I think quite outdated and also toned down because they obviously can't say too much. These guys are very benign and a lot of the real movers and shakers will be that way unless it becomes necessary to be otherwise. The lower down the chain, the more violence. But I doubt these guys have been in the game for a while and things have changed - tech has evolved, new players have moved in. Much of the demographic makeup that supplies western Europe for example has transformed in a big way in recent decades, starting with the collapse of the countries behind the Iron Curtain but also with the major rise in traffickers/bosses in Ireland, the Mocro mob, Marbella's collection of national representatives who cooperate but also sometimes fall out and kill each other. I think a major change is that European cartels have evolved and made links with the cartels in Mexico who are of course so incredibly powerful and have a major presence in Europe as well now. And one of the Jalisco's main guys was captured in Morocco or maybe in Spain but was based in Morocco and I think was Moroccan himself (the Mocro mafia are Moroccan). Morocco has been a transit point for drugs of course but it's the more direct links that have changed the game. It has evolved along with globalisation and the emergence of newer, highly powerful OCGs like the Albanians for example. Even the power dynamics between the Italian mobs have shifted.
So yeah interesting stuff but to hear how things work now you'll need to speak to the big guys who knock about in Dubai and send their orders to Marbella and beyond, as well as other places. And the stuff coming in from the east has changed too. The old heroin trafficker is fascinating but what he describes is very old hat and he might've been a part of setting up the routes that exist today but it is a lot less benevolent than he makes it out to be. It is a truly ugly trade and drugs are one of the top three most profitable commodities on the black market globally along with weapons and people. It takes certain kinds of people to be involved in businesses with that kind of portfolio.
Also in terms of the ones who don't get caught or whatever, don't forget the role that intelligence agencies and other law enforcement agencies have played in the drug trade. Certain amounts have to be allowed in due to the huge money it contributes to the economy. Some big guys have been around for years and some are even known as "professional businessmen" and all that and there are some who are said to be untouchable, even though their names are known due to mistakes. These guys have links with corrupt cops at least and in one major city, one notorious group have been around for decades but are "untouchable". Look up "Operation Tiberius" into corruption in London Metropolitan police with links between organised crime and the Met, with Freemasonry facilitating corruption. This is on record and has been stifled many times over the years, since the murders of Daniel Morgan (a P.I.)and the notorious, racist murder of Stephen Lawrence committed by young men connected to crime families who had links to the police. The Times has investigative pieces on the N'Dranghetta infiltrating Masonic lodges in Italy and they are one of the most powerful OCGs in the world. None of this is tin-foil, it is all on record. Imagine the people we DON'T know about and who have remained hidden, who are protected. They give up other people, lower level guys, the odd shipment. Low hanging fruit they call it. However it works, there are people at the top of the chain who we would never assume to profit from the drug trade.
I did a journalism class when I was doing some work for a paper and they had a guest editor from a paper I another city. As an exercise, they had us suggest investigative story ideas. My suggestion was looking into links between the construction industry and big time drug dealers in the city. The editor said its a great idea but you would likely end up at the bottom of the canal if you tried to look into it. We all laughed but mine was one of three picked and we messed around, looking into how we might investigate such things. This is a city in which skyscrapers were going up everywhere. Imagine some highly wealthy politician who has a large business portfolio. Say he had shares in HSBC - known to have laundered major drug money - that means that he has profited from the drug trade. Imagine that this politician is a minister in the government of a powerful country. This is one single case. Imagine if a minister like that became minister of defence while we were on Afghanistan (this is hypothetical). Don't you think that he would either fascilitate or at least turn a blind eye to major drug trafficking? Who knows who the major traffickers might be in such a scenario? There are many cases of big businesses and businessmen being taken down for drugs - one quite recently in England. Have a look at the National Crime Agency's news section. They have a lot of interesting stories but they never get to the top. Why is that?
One things I've heard that is tin-foil (I haven't seen it confirmed) is that one of El Mayo's sibling-in-laws is married to a CIA agent. Make of that what you will. And it has been alleged that the Sinaloa Cartel have worked with the US govt. Iran/Contra in the 80s. Also El Mayo was believed to be above Rl Chapo who was basicay a scapegoat and no one can find El Mayo.
