A continuation...
Berto's bread and butter however, was his "mescalin" trade. Berto would buy 5 gramme black platic canisters of crystal LSD. From these tiny canisters he would maunfacture between 50 and 75,000 dosages of "mescalin." It seems like a fantastic, even astronomical amount, especially for a non-addictive substance but he had a crew in Central Park, at Sheep's Meadow, selling minimum lots of 100, and the average customer, "average" being suburban college age white boys, buying 500 and up each purchase. Some would buy up to 5,000, and although that is the biggest single purchase I know of, I wasn't around often enough to know if some bought even larger amounts.
Getting crystal, Berto would have it diluted and dosed onto saccharine tabs ("doublr barrels") he died purple, tiny pasta stars as one finds in Minestrone soup, dyed bright red, and to a lesser extent, perforated watercolour paper ("blotter"). I found it interesting in terms of human behaviour. Some blotter, "Blue Star" for example (each piece had a blue star on it) was dosed as low as the purple microdots, but sold for a higher price simply because people perceived blotter to be a "purer," or "more powerful" product. Of course the microdots were being sold as "mescalin," but the blotter were being honestly presented as acid (LSD).
Some blotter was dosed considerably higher when I suggested that he should ape the heroin trade. Put out a better product for a bit, reel in the repeat customer base, and then bait and switch. One could buy undosed sheets, a "sheet" being 1,000 perforated squares, although in the Park customers were being sold 100 squared portions as "sheets," since 1,000 squared sheets often had 10 complete designs on them, each little square being a component of a design. Berto didn't go for that long term, though I did convince him for awhile of the utility in doing so.
Instead of shitty little "Blue Stars," he bought embossed designs like "Chill Pill," with late-1970s style graphics for the word "Chill Pill," in maroon ink on white backing, very fancy. The best idea though, was when I convinced him to add a bright food dye to the dilutent so that when he dosed the sheets, he could see just where most had been absorbed. The first sheet that had the coloued stain was "Rosicrucian." Rosicrucians are a mail order pseudo-religion and their symbol is a pyramid, a cross, and a rose all superimposed upon each other. The paper had this symbol in each square. Dipping each 1,000 squared sheet, you could see a teal coloured stain in each little square, the perforation preventing absorption anywhere but into the centre of the square. Customers loved it, they could findly have something tangible to look for.
In the Park, Berto's other brother in law, Juan, ran the show. Wearing a black biker-type leather jacket covered in buckskin style fringe and wearing a fucken mullet, he would saunter through Sheep's Meadow like some degenerate hippy pied piper, always with a dozen hangers on trailing him. The only good thing I could say about that distribution scheme was that it was a lightening rod for the best soft drugs in the city. The only time in my life where I actually copped Afghan hashish in North America, was in the Meadow, from one of Juan's "entourage," a 50 something Englishman with Granny Glasses and a pony tail sold me a quarter ounce for 25 US...oh, and another day, another guy whom I actually knew from outside that circle, sold me a bud of hydrponic- at a time when sinsemilla was considered "exotic"- covered in actual crystals, lime green and as sticky as velcro, 30 US for 5 grammes.
Juan had a string of junkies, blacks and Puerto Ricans, lining the paved path running along the chain link fence that acts as a perimeter for Sheep's Meadow. Whiteboys-mostly- would amble up the path. A junkie would mumble, "Yo, what ya' need dude? Acid, mescalin, weed?" Juan only let each one hold 100 dosages. 100 purple double barrels sold for 60 US, red stars for 75 US, and blotter could go as high as 120 per 100 dosages. There WERE real differences in dosage but not enough to warrant such pricing disparities. With blotter pricing was all about design. Chill Pill with its fancy embossed paper might have less microgrammes than purple and goldstriped #14 paper BUT Chill Pill sold higher because of the design- human behaviour at work.
Naturally I got as much acid as I wanted and at that point, not having become a drug dealer yet, I used to hand it out to "friends." One time I was invited to a party at some kid's house. His mom was a nurse on the night shift. I won't use his actual name because, well for one thing, I'm not sure how long Statutes of Limitation applies in such a case but also because I don't want to air a person's personal issues not knowing what the guy's current station in life is. Putting it online could create embarrassment for him and his family if he is on the straight and narrow.
In any event, character counts being what they are, it will have to wait for a subsequent entry.
Berto's bread and butter however, was his "mescalin" trade. Berto would buy 5 gramme black platic canisters of crystal LSD. From these tiny canisters he would maunfacture between 50 and 75,000 dosages of "mescalin." It seems like a fantastic, even astronomical amount, especially for a non-addictive substance but he had a crew in Central Park, at Sheep's Meadow, selling minimum lots of 100, and the average customer, "average" being suburban college age white boys, buying 500 and up each purchase. Some would buy up to 5,000, and although that is the biggest single purchase I know of, I wasn't around often enough to know if some bought even larger amounts.
Getting crystal, Berto would have it diluted and dosed onto saccharine tabs ("doublr barrels") he died purple, tiny pasta stars as one finds in Minestrone soup, dyed bright red, and to a lesser extent, perforated watercolour paper ("blotter"). I found it interesting in terms of human behaviour. Some blotter, "Blue Star" for example (each piece had a blue star on it) was dosed as low as the purple microdots, but sold for a higher price simply because people perceived blotter to be a "purer," or "more powerful" product. Of course the microdots were being sold as "mescalin," but the blotter were being honestly presented as acid (LSD).
Some blotter was dosed considerably higher when I suggested that he should ape the heroin trade. Put out a better product for a bit, reel in the repeat customer base, and then bait and switch. One could buy undosed sheets, a "sheet" being 1,000 perforated squares, although in the Park customers were being sold 100 squared portions as "sheets," since 1,000 squared sheets often had 10 complete designs on them, each little square being a component of a design. Berto didn't go for that long term, though I did convince him for awhile of the utility in doing so.
Instead of shitty little "Blue Stars," he bought embossed designs like "Chill Pill," with late-1970s style graphics for the word "Chill Pill," in maroon ink on white backing, very fancy. The best idea though, was when I convinced him to add a bright food dye to the dilutent so that when he dosed the sheets, he could see just where most had been absorbed. The first sheet that had the coloued stain was "Rosicrucian." Rosicrucians are a mail order pseudo-religion and their symbol is a pyramid, a cross, and a rose all superimposed upon each other. The paper had this symbol in each square. Dipping each 1,000 squared sheet, you could see a teal coloured stain in each little square, the perforation preventing absorption anywhere but into the centre of the square. Customers loved it, they could findly have something tangible to look for.
In the Park, Berto's other brother in law, Juan, ran the show. Wearing a black biker-type leather jacket covered in buckskin style fringe and wearing a fucken mullet, he would saunter through Sheep's Meadow like some degenerate hippy pied piper, always with a dozen hangers on trailing him. The only good thing I could say about that distribution scheme was that it was a lightening rod for the best soft drugs in the city. The only time in my life where I actually copped Afghan hashish in North America, was in the Meadow, from one of Juan's "entourage," a 50 something Englishman with Granny Glasses and a pony tail sold me a quarter ounce for 25 US...oh, and another day, another guy whom I actually knew from outside that circle, sold me a bud of hydrponic- at a time when sinsemilla was considered "exotic"- covered in actual crystals, lime green and as sticky as velcro, 30 US for 5 grammes.
Juan had a string of junkies, blacks and Puerto Ricans, lining the paved path running along the chain link fence that acts as a perimeter for Sheep's Meadow. Whiteboys-mostly- would amble up the path. A junkie would mumble, "Yo, what ya' need dude? Acid, mescalin, weed?" Juan only let each one hold 100 dosages. 100 purple double barrels sold for 60 US, red stars for 75 US, and blotter could go as high as 120 per 100 dosages. There WERE real differences in dosage but not enough to warrant such pricing disparities. With blotter pricing was all about design. Chill Pill with its fancy embossed paper might have less microgrammes than purple and goldstriped #14 paper BUT Chill Pill sold higher because of the design- human behaviour at work.
Naturally I got as much acid as I wanted and at that point, not having become a drug dealer yet, I used to hand it out to "friends." One time I was invited to a party at some kid's house. His mom was a nurse on the night shift. I won't use his actual name because, well for one thing, I'm not sure how long Statutes of Limitation applies in such a case but also because I don't want to air a person's personal issues not knowing what the guy's current station in life is. Putting it online could create embarrassment for him and his family if he is on the straight and narrow.
In any event, character counts being what they are, it will have to wait for a subsequent entry.
